JoAnn Elizabeth Nese

JoAnn Elizabeth Nese came into our world on June 19th, 1974. She was the beautiful child of Bill and Amy Nese. Along with her parents, her brother Billy and sister Jean welcomed her into their lives. She was a happy cherubic little girl who grew up in the Christmas City of Bethlehem, PA. Her favorite time of year was, as you may have guessed, Christmastime. We all have so many wonderful memories of those times, which included the cooking of a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner with linguine with clam sauce and alice (anchovy) dough balls. We listened to the Christmas story as told and sung by the Italian barber from PA, Perry Como and attended Mass on Christmas Eve. But most importantly, there was the simple joy of just being together as a family. Those were truly grace-filled and happy times.

JoAnn attended school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and then later Sacred Heart Elementary. She graduated from Bethlehem Catholic High School in 1992, and later went to Allentown Business School to study travel and tourism. She also became a licensed massage therapist which was something she believed gave her life a deeper sense of purpose and meaning. It was a firm belief of hers that she was here on Earth to be a healer, and a healer she was.

JoAnn’s life was a musical journey, both literally and figuratively. JoAnn was an incredibly gifted vocalist. Her voice had a very pure and genuine quality. When she sang, nothing was forced or overdone. Her voice was true to pitch while at the same time, somehow her own. She sang solos in various honor choirs and at important family events like her sister Jean’s wedding and her own high school graduation Mass. She loved to dance and studied jazz and tap in her youth, then moving on to the hula and a bit of Irish dancing in later years. She played the snare drum in her high school marching band and was an excellent drummer. Listening to music was always something that brought her great joy. She had the privilege of having a room next to her brother which exposed her to fantastic music. She loved the bands Rush, Yes and U2 along with a deep affection for Celtic music and later, Italian opera and folk music. For JoAnn, music was very emotive. She could often, within the same piece of music, find elements of great joy and love, as well as tremendous sadness. JoAnn brought two sons into our world whom she gave up for adoption with both great love and sadness. To love, and to be loved, was a constant wish of JoAnn’s. One way this was expressed was through the unsurpassed care and affection she had for those in her care, especially her cherished dog Shorty, who was a beloved companion for more than ten years.

JoAnn struggled for the last 15 years of her life with severe mental illness. She worked hard not to have her illness define who she truly was. JoAnn was always drawn to warm tropical places and even lived for a time in Hawaii and Fiji. The essence of who she was in the later years of her life was not unlike one of her favorite things, one of the many incredible tropical flowers that grow in the Hawaiian Islands. A strange thing happens when we see a flower in the full wonderful light of the sun. We are moved by its undeniable beauty. We marvel at the gift of joy we have been given. We rejoice at a very simple thing. This sense of joy was what JoAnn gave so many people in her life. As the light of the day begins to fade, our vision becomes somewhat blurred. In the half-light of dusk we have to strain to see the beautiful flower. The flower begins to disappear. This is when we have to use whatever light is remaining to see the flower’s beauty. In times of complete darkness we have to use memory to recall how much we loved the flower. This is not easy, especially for the flower, which in the darkness cannot remember how beautiful it is in the light. JoAnn E. Nese passed from this earth into perpetual light on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012. We miss her very much.

JoAnn is survived by her parents, Bill and Amy Nese; her sister, Jean Wright and her husband, Dave and their six children, Ben, Maggie, Josh, Caleb, Sam and Matt; her brother, Bill Nese, Jr. and his wife Heather, and their three children, Will, James and Camille; as well as a large extended family.

We will celebrate her life at a Mass of Christian Burial at noon on Friday, March 23rd, 2012 at the Cathedral of Saint Helena. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery with a luncheon to follow in the Brondel Center located in the lower level of the Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to NAMI Montana, PO Box 1021, Helena, MT 59624. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.aswfuneralhome.com

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