Joanne Marie Thayer passed away on August 4th, 2017 surrounded by her immediate family in the Vitas Hospice on Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, Texas.
Born August 14, 1950 in Jamaica, New York, Joanne was the only child of the late Alexander and Mildred Bahr Melnichak of Huntington, New York.
She was married to husband Dennis Thayer on May 12, 1984 at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Chapel, in Tucson, Arizona. She was previously married to, and widowed by, Gene Fidler of South Brunswick, New Jersey.
Joanne is survived by her husband, and the couple's only child, Jacquelyn Michelle Thayer, of San Antonio, Texas.
Joanne had a long association working with the publishing industry. After her graduation from Walt Whitman High School in Huntington, New York in 1968, she completed a course of instruction at Katharine Gibbs College and began her professional career.
Beginning with her management position with Boys' Life magazine, she went on to work as an advertising executive at the Village Voice magazine in Manhattan, New York. After taking on the responsibilities of wife and mother, she went on later in life to found her own magazine, "A Heart of Grace and Joy," https://www.facebook.com/A-Heart-of-Grace-and-Joy-... based in the internet and featuring the splendid photography and writing of her and her talented contributors.
You can see and download if you wish, every copy. Joanne loved to share and would love for you to see her beautiful publication, created by her and her closest friends: https://aheartofgraceandjoy.wordpress.com/
Joanne's greatest interests were varied, and included crafts, particularly cross stitch; nature photography, at which she excelled as an amateur; bird watching, especially of the American bald eagle; caring for the many cats she came across in her life; her deep interest and work in genealogy; her love of travel across the United States, an interest instilled in her at a young age by her parents; her deep love of God and family; and meeting new people and making lifelong friends of them through her cheerful and smiling nature.
She founded the crafts blog "Of Generations Past," http://ofgenerationspast.blogspot.com/ to showcase her cross-stitch designs, talented and touching on so many areas, including her love of family and things of the heart and hearth, and the seashore. Please visit it, besides beautiful designs the site is filled with Joanne's thoughts and musings. In addition, she loved to post on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/joannethayerogp/
Perhaps her greatest achievement was home schooling our daughter Jacquelyn from third grade through graduation from high school, where she went on to great academic achievements herself. Based on lessons learned as part of that triumph, Joanne went on to teach at ENAACT, the New Braunfels, Texas home school academy, where she was beloved and aided the growth of so many students.
Joanne is also survived by her many cousins, and by relatives through both of her marriages, including my daughter Kelly Wagoner and her husband Thomas, of Jackson, Mississippi.
At her request, Mrs. Thayer was cremated, with her ashes to be scattered at some of the locations across the United States dearest to her heart. I will show those places in the "Stories" section of this memorial. Come, see the places she loved and where her spirit visits while her soul is with God.
Also by her request, there was no funeral. There was a commemoration and remembrance of her life in Tucson during the New Year 2018 holiday, with some of her ashes scattered at Gates Pass. Her friends and relatives are requested that there be no flowers, but donations to the Audubon Society, Vitas Hospice or your favorite charity are encouraged.
There is a marker placed in Highland Cemetery, Hopewell, New Jersey near her mother's grave, to mark her passing in perpetuity, but she will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.
We love and miss you, Joanne.
