Joanne M. Zimmerman, 94, of Medina, died on Friday, February 16, 2024 surrounded by her loving family at the Medina Memorial Hospital-North Wing Skilled Nursing Facility.
Joanne was born in Medina on August 21, 1929. A daughter of the late Joseph and Ervanna (Bowen) Menke, Joanne, alongside her older sister, Flora Linda, grew up on West Center Street. She graduated from Medina High School and went on to earn a nursing degree from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Joanne worked as a Registered Nurse at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester and moved home to Medina after she met the love of her life, John E. “Jack” Zimmerman. The couple were wed on June 28, 1952 at St. Mary’s R.C. Church. Together they raised eight children in the home that her grandparents built on West Center Street, located just across the street from her own childhood home. Once her youngest child was in school, she returned to nursing and retired from Medina Memorial Hospital in 1991.
Friends and family remember Joanne as the mother they wish they had. Joanne’s West Center Street home was a hub of activity, a gathering place for all of her children’s friends. Whether setting an additional place at the dining table, a sleepover, or summertime at the family cottage on Lake Ontario, Joanne was at the center of every activity.
The congregation at St. Mary’s Church will remember the Zimmermans trapsing into church each Sunday to sit in front of the pulpit as Father delivered the weekly message. The older children may remember the early years at the cottage with weekly Sunday sailboat races, where Joanne was the hostess behind the scenes. Summertime at the cottage meant baths in the lake, heating water on the stove and no TV. Summer never began until Joanne’s sister, Flora Linda, arrived with her family from California for a visit. Even though she lived her entire life within a three-block radius, it was in 1970 that she and Jack took to the road, taking the entire family on a summer vacation around the United States with ten people in a nine-passenger station wagon with a seventeen-foot travel trailer in tow.
She made a traditional family dinner every night, which was more like a banquet for ten. Every birthday was a holiday, and every holiday was a special time for a family celebration. Though Joanne was not a fan of the cold, she enjoyed driving her children to Gallagher’s Hill for sledding and participating in ice boating on Glenwood Lake. She only ventured into Lake Ontario once a summer for her annual swim. Grandchildren will remember her watching them swim, bonfires at the lake, her sense of community and the life lessons she imparted on them.
While raising her large family, Joanne also had an active social life through her sorority, bridge club and Coterie with friends known as the Dutch Treat Crowd. Although anxious when put on the spot or in the spotlight, Joanne was often a behind the scenes instigator of practical jokes, mischief and other merriment without parallel. She will be dearly missed.
Joanne was predeceased by her husband, John E. Zimmerman 2004; and son, Robert A. Zimmerman 1992.
Survivors include her children, John E. (Christine) Zimmerman, F. Linda Knipe, Joseph (Carol) Zimmerman, Mary (Thomas) Robinson, Phillip (Connie) Zimmerman, Joanne A. Zimmerman and Carl (Sally) Zimmerman; 17 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; sister, Flora Linda Sardina; many nieces and nephews; and several dogs and grand-dogs.
Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 4-7PM at Cooper Funeral Home, 215 W. Center St., Medina, NY 14103. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 11AM at Holy Trinity Parish, St. Mary’s Church, 211 Eagle St., Medina. Interment will follow in Boxwood Cemetery.
Following the services, the family would like to invite everyone to join them at the Sacred Heart Club, 189 N. Gravel Rd., Medina, for a funeral luncheon and Celebration of Joanne’s Life, where the sharing of memories and stories by family and friends will be encouraged.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in her memory to the Orleans Community Health Foundation at www.supportoch.org, the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org or to a charity of choice. Please share condolences at www.cooperfuneralhome.com.
