Jo Ann Roman

At 1:30 PM on March 20, 2016, after 64 years, Jo Ann Roman passed away at her Moyie Springs, Idaho home in the arms of her loving husband, Manny Roman. Cause of death was extensive cancer in her abdomen. Doctors attempted surgery on January 13, 2016; but said the cancer had spread too far and death was inevitable. She was discharged from the hospital on January 29, with a prognosis of two to four weeks to live.

Jo was born in Bonners Ferry on June 4, 1951; the fourth child of Charles James Walter and Ruby E. Walter (Foust). At age 13, after both parents had passed away, her older sister Sandy Lorentzen and her husband Larry Lorentzen became Jo’s legal guardians. Larry was in the Air Force and the family later moved to Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico, where Jo finished high school, followed with one year at Marymount College in Salina, Kansas. In high school, she met Manny Roman, whom she married on June 19, 1971, while he was a senior at Georgia Tech. Jo and Manny were married 44 years and have three daughters: Angela Sue, Rheanna Nichole, and Larissa Ann; and six grandchildren.

Jo was primarily a homemaker, and country girl at heart. She had a passion for dairy goats, chickens, cheese making, sewing, quilting, baking, cake decorating, cooking, and serving her family. She would make holidays and birthdays into very special and elaborate occasions. She made custom tailored clothing for all the girls and her husband. She also homeschooled all three girls after the Lord told her to remove them from a private Christian school and teach them at home. When living in the Bonners Ferry area, she was a 4-H leader for cake decorating and sewing, and a volunteer for quilting and sewing exhibits at the County Fair.