At the age of 82 years old, surrounded by her loved ones, JoAnna Bean Wilson met her Lord and Savior face-to-face on Thursday, May 9th. JoAnna was born on September 16, 1941, to S.B. (Totsie) and Beulah (Bootsie) Bean in Gormon, Texas. As a teenager, JoAnna was baptized at the Blanket Church of Christ, faithfully serving her Lord and Savior until He called her home. JoAnna graduated from Blanket High School in 1960. It was there at her alma mater that she met the love of her life, Jimmy Clay Wilson, who graduated in 1961. According to MeMa (Jimmy’s mother), he had his eyes set on her before he even started school. Since Jimmy lived directly across the street from the school, he had the perfect spot to watch JoAnna each day as she frolicked on the playground! They were united in marriage in 1961, and that union lasted until Jimmy’s death in 2017. After working in Brownwood and later College Station, they returned to Blanket where they were in the dairy business for almost thirty years. JoAnna played an instrumental role in their life on the farm. She was not afraid of hard work. She did her fair share of bottle-feeding animals, tending to many hurt or orphaned critters, cooking large meals for the hay haulers, picking up parts for broken equipment, herding loose cattle back into the fields, growing a garden, and performing many other tasks that needed to be done.
In addition to the dairy, Jimmy and JoAnna did roadshows, craft shows, and flea markets. This suited JoAnna perfectly as she loved to shop, and she especially loved finding a good bargain. Together, she and Jimmy opened Anna’s Attic which was located in downtown Blanket for four years. They then decided to relocate Anna’s Attic to Heartland Mall where it remained for several years. She loved her customers and they loved her! After closing her store, JoAnna went to work for Heartland Funeral Home where she was employed until her death. JoAnna had a special gift for comforting those who were hurting. Through her work at the funeral home, she was able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people from all walks of life during their most difficult and darkest of days. Her warm smile and welcoming hugs were a soft place to land and brought solace to the grieving. In the words of so many who have sent their condolences, JoAnna was kind, compassionate, sweet, beautiful, genuine, precious, loving, and gracious just to name a few!
JoAnna was quick to laugh, and was no stranger to a good prank! She, along with some of her classmates, took great joy in rolling Mrs. Catharyn Switzer’s car down the hill on multiple occasions. Mrs. Switzer was JoAnna’s home economics teacher, and when recounting this story, JoAnna would laugh at how Mrs. Switzer could never figure out how her parked car would end up at the bottom of the hill! JoAnna and her sister, Hilda, loved nothing better than dressing up as old women and visiting unsuspecting friends and family members. Their costumes were quite convincing as no one ever recognized them! They might ask their “victims” for directions or for a sandwich. And if you were really special, one of them would fall down in your yard and then need “help” getting up, due to her weak ankles! Phone pranks were not uncommon either! On one occasion, JoAnna, pretending to be an employee of the local telephone company, called one of her elderly friends who had complained that her phone was very staticky. JoAnna convinced her friend that she needed to wrap her phone in a warm, damp towel for 5-10 minutes in order to reduce the static! The antics continued at the funeral home, and often involved plastic snakes which would appear when least expected. She dished it out, but she was also on the receiving end a time or two!
JoAnna loved watching her grandchildren and great-grandchildren play baseball and softball. She was their biggest fan, and she loved tooting her horn to cheer them on! When she couldn’t attend a game in person, she listened to it on the radio. She didn’t want to miss a single second of the action. She was also a master bubble blower, and she delighted in watching her little brown-eyed boys chase bubbles whether it be inside or outside.
JoAnna is survived by her daughter, Hope Bearden and husband Gordon of Early; three grandchildren, Alexis Temple and husband Jon of Brownwood, Cole Bearden and wife Angie of Cleburne, Cale Bearden and wife Aimee of Fort Worth; six great-grandchildren, Makayla, Maddison, Brayden, David, Jimmy Ray, and Connor; one sister, Hilda Butlar and husband Oscar of Celina, one brother, Owen Bean and wife Charla of Blanket; daughter-in-law, Kathy Wilson of Arlington; step-granddaughter, Christine; step-great granddaughter Kylie; step-great great granddaughter Lincoln, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
JoAnna was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-six years, Jimmy; her son, Robert; her parents; and her beloved Yorkie, Abby Girl.
A special thank you to her second family at Heartland Funeral Home, her friends at Walker Cancer Center, Solaris Hospice, Hill Country Home Care, and to the many friends and family who reached out to her through calls, texts, cards, flowers, food, and visits. To Linda Moseley, Jeanneene Johnson, Gail Baker, and Gwen Gaines for being extra special angels the last few months, thank you!
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM, Friday, May 17, 2024, in the Heartland Funeral Home chapel. Burial will follow in Eastlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday evening from 5:00 until 7:00.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a charity of your choice.
Condolences, memories, and tributes can be offered to the Wilson family online at heartlandfuneralhome.com