JoAnn Neumayer

JoAnn Neumayer, 71, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at her home near Bonners Ferry.

A vigil service was held Monday and a Mass of Christian Burial was held Tuesday, both at St. Ann's Catholic Church. Interment followed at Grandview Cemetery in Bonners Ferry.

JoAnn Deyoe Neumayer was born Feb. 6, 1937, in Allenville, Wis., the second daughter of Joseph Roger and Vivian Ruth Deyoe.

JoAnn's sister Veronica (Bonnie) was born two years earlier.

In 1951 the family sold their home in Wisconsin, bought a trailer and moved to St. Regis, Mont., where JoAnn's father joined his brother, Clifford, and worked as a welder for Bear and Creek Construction Co.

From St. Regis, the families moved with the construction company to Noxon and Yaak, Mont.

The school in Yaak only went to the eighth grade, and the families in the valley either sent their children to Libby, Mont., or Bonners Ferry. JoAnn and her parents chose Bonners Ferry, and JoAnn boarded with Mrs. Gudbar, who lived near the old St. Ann's Catholic Church.

JoAnn Deyoe and Jim Neumayer met while going to Bonners Ferry High School. A year after they graduated, they married in the old St. Ann's Catholic Church on April 14, 1956.

JoAnn served on St. Ann's Altar Society and the board of the Panhandle Health Department. She worked for many years as a cook at Rocky Mountain and Boulder academies. JoAnn also cooked for the U.S. Forest Service.

She was an artist, and her passions in life included painting, gardening, cooking, baking, playing cards, and family and friends. She especially loved Christmas and began getting ready for the next year's Christmas on the first shopping day after Christmas.

JoAnn is survived by her husband; children Joseph, Jeffery, Jennifer, Jerry, John, Jill and Jim Jr. and their spouses; 19 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; a sister, Bonnie Sethre, her husband and their three daughters, spouses and children; and many cousins in the Deyoe and Peck families, including Jayne Deyoe and Charlotte Janezche.

Family and friends can sign JoAnn's online guest book at www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com.

Bonners Ferry Funeral Home handled arrangements.