Joann Pickard

JoAnn Pickard was born to Warren and Jean Records in Walla Walla, Washington on September 18, 1930. She stepped off the earth into Jesus’ arms on Wednesday, June 13, 2018. She was 87 years old. JoAnn grew up in Walla Walla and attended Washington Grade School and Walla Walla High School, graduating from Wa-Hi in 1948. After high school she was the administrator for the Walla Walla County Engineer. During the high school years, a young man named George Pickard saw her square dancing at Marcus Whitman Grange Hall, and asked his friend, "Who is that?"  He asked her for the next dance and that was the beginning of a 70-year romance. George got a job at the Model Grocery which happened to be across the street from the office where JoAnn worked. Early in the spring, the store received a shipment of daffodils. George took a bouquet over to the beautiful girl across the street. Daffodils have been their flower ever since. They dated for a year or so, and George knew she was the girl for him, but he was not quite sure how she felt. On his birthday in 1949 George and Jo went with his parents and two sisters for a day of fishing on the Lostine river. It was a beautiful August day, and a fun time together. Towards the end of the day Jo pulled George aside and said, “I’ve decided that I love you.” George and JoAnn were married on June 9, 1951, and in February 1952, when George's draft number was getting close to being called, he enlisted in the Army and left for basic training.  In August he was shipped to the far east where he served 18 months during the Korean war, while JoAnn stayed behind with Rocky and Cymie, the dogs, and their 1951 Chevy convertible. JoAnn moved to Yakima with George's parents and sisters and worked in the office at Valley Evaporating. When George returned from Korea in February 1954, they bought a little farmhouse in Yakima on some acreage, complete with a milk cow and chickens, and JoAnn worked to put George through college even though - surprise - their daughter was born during George's freshman year. They settled in Lower Naches where they raised their family. Besides raising four children and providing a home to two foster children, JoAnn was always active in the community, teaching Sunday school, running the entire food operation for George's sixth grade Conservation Camp at the American River Ski Lodge every spring for eighteen years, working at Cresci & Holman Tax Services during tax season, and working for Congresswoman Catherine May. She was a Camp Fire leader and Den mother, herding a lively pack of Cub Scouts. She volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, and she volunteered in George's classroom teaching art and reading.  Together with friends at church she would gather food and clothing and presents to give to needy families at Christmastime. She headed up Christian Education at the Naches Presbyterian Church for awhile and always taught Sunday school there, and also served as their organist for many years. She and her Washington Grade School classmates stayed close throughout the years and "the kids" have a reunion every year in September. She and George loved camping and jeeping in the Chinook Pass area and shared many fun holiday weekends at the "lot" on Nile Creek with the Zucks, Englunds, Parises, and the rest of the gang. Sharing a love of the forest, George and Jo retired to the mountains, to a place they named “Dear Mountain,” not because of the resident deer herd, but because it is so dear to them.  When she was in the hospital for a few weeks in 2015, she talked of her longing to return to her "beautiful mountain home." JoAnn became an active member of the Chinook Pass Elderberries Red Hats club and had a wonderful, hilarious time with them, all decked out in purple and red. In hiking back in the woods around their house, JoAnn discovered a lot of old rusty barbed wire fencing that she felt was a threat to wildlife, so she declared war on it. She would grab the wirecutters, take the dogs with her and come back with rolls and rolls of it, eventually removing a huge amount of barbed wire from all over the hillside. She also declared war on Dalmation Toadflax and Tansy Frogwort (or something like that), and any other invasive, non-native plant that attempted to spread through the forest. She would comb the mountain on her walks and remove all of it she could find. She and George raised their children to respect and care for the environment, to conserve water and tread lightly upon the earth, long before it was trendy. This was a passion she carried with her to the end of her days. She also joined the Nile Valley Women's Club, and served as their President, working with the others to convert it from a small group to the large membership and force of nature it is in the Valley today. She was always on the committee that made the wreaths for the Christmas Bazaar, she cooked turkeys for the community dinners, and her signature caramel corn was a hot item at the bake sales. She and the club established a lending library at the clubhouse when the County library system pulled out. The last few years of her life have been complicated by mouth cancer and radiation, and dementia. As her abilities declined, George’s dedication to her has only grown stronger. His cheerful, steady, tender care of her through all stages of her illness has been impressive and inspiring. JoAnn is survived by her husband George, daughter Nancy McFeron and husband Don, and sons Tom Pickard and his wife Anji, Jeff Pickard and his wife Karen, Bill Pickard, and grandchildren Laura, Danielle, Adelle, Rachael and Josiah. In lieu of flowers, JoAnn would wish that donations be made to Nile Valley Women’s Club, Nile/Cliffdell Fireman’s Association, or Nile Valley Community Church. Donations may be mailed c/o Valley Hills Funeral Home, 2600 Business Lane, Yakima, WA 98901. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Joann Pickard, please visit our flower store.