Joan Ann Griesemer

Joan Ann Griesemer (nee Reis) was born on September 3rd, 1939 near Freeport, New York, at the start of the second World War. (She would often say she was born on the very first day of World War II when Poland and Germany officially declared war.) Her parents, Francis Reis and Anna Fraas, had moved to the Long Island community from New York City in order to start a family after nearly 10 years of marriage. They excitedly welcomed her into the world and three years later also gave birth to a son, her brother James.

Joan was a precocious child, excelling in school but also sneaking out of the house to have adventures in New York City (by train) and the nation’s capitol (by plane) and keeping secret her travels in order to spare her mother worry. She ultimately lived a life of service and devotion, first as a Catholic novitiate (a nun except for the final vows) and a school teacher, finally settling into a long career as a registered nurse. She earned her nursing degree from St. John’s Medical College in New York City, preceded by a bachelors degree in Science Education (a degree that should have been a Chemistry Bachelors of Science, were it not for systemic sexism in higher education at the time). In her nursing career, she worked in New York City, in Oakland, and for the longest tenure as an OBGYN nurse at St Joseph’s Hospital near Gig Harbor in Washington State, where she raised her children alongside her late husband, Ben (Bernard J. Griesemer Jr.).

As a mother, she encouraged creativity and freedom of thought over compliance. She was a fierce educator, pulling both of her children into a love of learning and of nature that eventually saw them earning PhDs in computational science and ecology. With her grandchildren, she was playful and devoted, thrilled by the gift of being their grandmother. She regularly drove more than 11 hours (in one push) to visit them for birthdays and holidays–leaving her home at 4:00 a.m. in order to arrive by supper. She loved the drive, the turns of the road, the shifting topography and the memories of the places where she stopped over the years. She was an avid geographer, and passed along her love of maps to both of her sons.

Central to her life were both art and travel. She loved landscapes–bucolic and urban–capturing them in photo and painting and sought them out through travel or even in literature. She often reported that she couldn’t recall the plot of a past read but could vividly recall the scenery she had painted in her head while immersed in the book. She was a reader of history and historical fiction, devouring hundreds of books each year and visiting many of the European settings she imagined while diving into an unending list of stories. Her favorite destination was likely Italy–most notably the “Hilltowns” in the north. A more recent Mediterranean cruise with (late) son Marc, revealed new favorite destinations like the Acropolis in Athens and the azure blue waters of the Greek Isles. Joan also created her own batik art, sharing it with others through Christmas cards and ornaments. She experienced the world through color. Under different circumstances, her love of light and color might have produced an impressionist painter–though if you asked her, she would have chosen to be a pilot or a racecar driver. (She loved the roar of the engines!)

Joan moved from her home in Washington to California at the very end of 2021, leaving behind a beautiful property where she and her husband built both a house in the woods and a number of forty-year relationships with neighbors and friends. In California, she joined an assisted living community in the Davis area, close to her son Chris and extended family. Her independence and privacy remained important to her, and she enjoyed a few more years with her favorite pastimes: reading books and making art.

After a period of relatively slow decline, Joan passed away rather suddenly in her apartment on September 20 under the care of an amazing staff at The Californian Assisted Living and Memory Care and a hospice team who kept her comfortable. Grandma Joan, as she was known most recently, was loved by and will be missed by many, including her son Chris, two grandchildren (Delta Rivers and Alannah Griesemer), their mom (Leonie Pickett) and her family (Jill Pickett, Warren Pickett, Victor Lagunes). All local family was able to visit and say their goodbyes. She is also survived by her brother, James Reis, and his family (sister-in-law Maureen Reis and their children and grandchildren), a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, and a handful of longtime friends (including some from her former monastic communities and Catholic women’s organizations).

Her refrain through these last years, in conversation and correspondences, was often one of gratitude. “I’ve been everywhere I wanted to go.” May we all be so lucky.