Grandma Joanne
Born
March 6, 1930
Great Falls, Montana
At Rest
October 4, 2012
Las Vegas, Nevada
I have many fond memories of Grandma Joanne. She had this wonderful way of making me feel like a grown up. She always spoke to me as an equal.
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| Joanne as a young lady |
She loved Toys R Us and every year for my birthday, she'd take me shopping. We would start the day off right by eating a healthy McDonalds breakfast. Then we'd go to Millers Outpost to look for clothes. If we couldn't find anything wonderful there, we would find ourselves at the Meadows Mall. Then we'd stop at Sizzlers for lunch. The salad bar was our first choice every time. Then, before heading home we had to see what could be found at Toys R Us. Usually, it was something for my Cabbage Patch Kids and some watermelon bubble gum in a tube.
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| Joanne |
She had a weakness for Winchelle's Doughnuts, too. I remember once, she took me and a friend of mine, Brandy York, so see a movie in the theater. Well, Brandy got sick on the popcorn, and tossed her cookies in the back of Grandma Joanne's car (fortunately, it was into the popcorn bucket). Grandma's suggested remedy; Winchelle's Doughnuts. (I laugh as I write this!) You can imagine the outcome...
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| Joanne with son Kent |
We always said she had moon eyes when she smiled. My sister inherited those moon eyes.
I always looked forward to spending time with Grandma Joanne. I remember once, the day of a birthday shopping excursion, I woke up early, to make sure I was ready in time, and looking at the clock, thinking that it said 8 am, I got out of bed and proceeded to ready myself. Upon completing that task, I went back to look at the clock to see how much longer I had to wait. The clock said 7:06 am. In my excitement, I misread the time. It had been 6 am.
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| Joanne, with her father, Charles Hillard Biggerstaff |
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| I didn't know she was a horsewoman |
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| Joanne, father Charles and brother Ronald |
But, in my minds eye, when I think of Grandma Joanne, I see her just like this, wearing a white blouse, a denim skirt and a thin brown belt. I loved Grandma Joanne. I always will.
We had the pleasure of visiting with my dad at her funeral. He came in from Virginia.
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| Uncle Kent, Aunt Heidi, Father Mark |
