JoAnn Howell
August 28, 1932 to October 30, 2023.

JoAnn Howell was born on August 28, 1932 to Foster Scribner and Viola (Peggy) Scribner, nee Pennell. Christened June JoAnn Scribner, she grew up during the great Depression and described her early life as full of hardship. Her parents divorced and she and her only sibling, Lester Scribner, lived with their father who was a carpenter and did various odd jobs to support his family during the Depression. When WW II began, JoAnn’s mother and stepfather, Helmuth Maier, took possession of her and her brother in order that Helmuth not be drafted.

JoAnn married Oscar Haux in December of 1949 at the age of 17. Danny Haux was her first born, on August 1, 1950. She was just short of being 18. Two years later in the month of September she gave birth to her daughter, Sandra Haux. About five years thereafter, JoAnn and Oscar divorced. Shortly thereafter, she married Raymond Martsch and in January of 1960 gave birth to twin boys, Eric and Aaron Martsch.

She attended night school in order to finish her high school education, then went on to earn a B.A. in psychology from California State University, Hayward. She and Raymond Martsch divorced about 1967. She had a career as a successful real estate agent in Berkeley. She married Fred Howell in 1986. They lived in Berkeley, then Gualala, California, then Snohomish, Washington. They divorced about 1998. JoAnn then moved to the Humboldt Bay area where she resided until her death. About 2001, she met Larry Holsen who became her beloved partner until his death in June of 2022.

JoAnn was a very social person and spent many years actively participating in the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside. She volunteered for many years with College of the Redwoods Foundation League raising money for scholarships. She enjoyed gardening, yoga, fine art and her many good friends.

A person is more than the sum of their parts; they must be taken as a complete entity. JoAnn was a person loved by many and will be missed. The family thanks the attentive and caring personnel at Redwood R&R where JoAnn spent the last 3 ½ months of her life and are grateful for the care she received from the staff of Hospice of Humboldt who kept her comfortable and pain free in the last 2 weeks of life. Ever helpful, she donated her body to science. There is no memorial planned.

Go now in peace, blessed be.

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