Obituary of Jo-Anne Thomson

It is the most profound sadness that we announce the passing of Jo-Anne Thomson at the young age of 58. After a year long battle with cancer, Jo-Anne succumbed to the disease on September 10, 2020. Jo-Anne is survived by her husband Neil; son Duncan (Tessa) and daughter Kelli (Josh). She also leaves behind her sister Janet (Henry) and brothers Jim (Janet) and Jack (Laura). Jo-Anne was preceded in passing by her Mother Jean and her Father Jim. Jo-Anne was a beautiful, loving woman in every sense. She always met friends and strangers alike with the same radiant smile and kind words. She was devoted and loving wife, mother, sister and aunt. She truly made people better and brought out the best in people. And she had a sense of humor second to none. She loved to laugh. Upon graduating Red River College with a degree in Business Administration in 1982, she went to work for the Department of Dentistry at the University of Manitoba. In 1985, Winnipeg Orthodontic Group came calling and Jo-Anne spent the next 15 years with them until retiring in 2000 to become a full time Mom. It was a job she excelled at for the remainder of her life. Jo-Anne loved being Mom. Jo-Anne was a decorated highland dancer, a lover of music and musical theatre, and a voracious reader. For most of 20 years, Jo-Anne worked as a volunteer at the John Pritchard School library, loving every minute of it. Jo-Anne was at home in the outdoors and the time she spent at Moose Lake in her younger years or Kildonan Park in her later life was special to her. But there was no place Jo-Anne valued more than her “Happy Place”, Grand Beach. Jo-Anne spent all her summers with the family down at Grand Beach. It was her favorite place in the world. She would tend to her flowers, watch sunrises on the back deck with a coffee and a good book and take long walks along the beach at sunset. Every day at Grand Beach was a precious day to her. How does one encapsulate such a wonderful person’s life into such a short space? Jo-Anne was our everything and she will be missed each and every day for the rest of our lives. Jo-Anne, Mom, we miss you, we love you more than you will ever know and we will forever be looking to your star in the sky. Be at peace with the angels my love. We love you. We miss you. You will always live in our hearts. Until we meet again. The family would like to thank the staff at Manitoba Cancer Care Concordia Hospital and Manitoba Cancer Care Health Sciences Centre. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. Irish Proverb A drive-by salute to Jo-Anne will be held on Wednesday, September 23 between 1:00pm and 2:00pm at Kildonan Park. Please enter through the Main St. entrance and proceed normally through the park. A tribute to Jo-Anne will be set up by the South Picnic Shelter. Due to traffic concerns, please do not stop when proceeding through.