September 11, 2022

Joann Helen (Wood) Anderson, 83, passed away peacefully on September 11, 2022 in El Cajon, California. Her beloved daughters and husband were by her side. 

Joann was born September 29, 1938 in the town of Cape Vincent to Anthony J. Wood and Marcelyn G. Constance. She graduated from LaFargeville Central School in 1957. After a short stint  as a long-distance operator for the New York Telephone Company in Watertown, she joined her older sister, Benita, in San Diego where she met and married Donald Eugene O’Neal on Feb. 20, 1960. Together they had two daughters, Deborah Anne Bischoff and Denise Anne Patton. Don and Joann divorced in 1977.

Capable and versatile, Joann managed varied employment, first as a telephone operator and later in food service. In between these jobs, while working at a gift shop in Balboa Park, she met William R. Anderson and they married on January 29, 1982. The two of them owned and operated a gift shop called Fascination in Seaport Village. 

In addition to her two daughters, Joann is survived by her siblings Joyce Ivey (Gary Lalonde), Clayton, Charles (Susan) Wood, Clayton, and Roger (Sally) Wood, Hughesville, Maryland. Her grandchildren, Kyle (Krissy) Sorensen, Erin (Preston Pham) Sorensen, and Ashlee Bischoff were her pride and joy. She looked forward to her first great grandchild, but little Amelia Joann Sorensen was not born until Oct. 18th, four weeks after her death. 

Approximately seven months after Joann’s death, her husband, Bill, died on April 23, 2023 and her sister, Barbara Robinson, died on April 26, 2023.

Joann was predeceased by her sister, Benita Wright, and her son-in-law, Chris Patton. 

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2023 at St. Mary’s Church in Clayton at 10:00 AM with her nephew, Rev. Donald A. Robinson, officiating. A funeral luncheon will follow at the Parish Center. A private burial will take place at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Clayton.