Jo-Anne Pauline Eldridge Obituary (1940

Jo-Anne Pauline Eldridge passed away peacefully, at home, on November 19, 2022. She was born on August 4, 1940, in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, to Harold and Josephine (Larson) Buessow. The family moved to Oregon, where Jo-Anne graduated from Springfield High School. Jo-Anne met and married the love of her life, Ray Scott Eldridge, in Springfield. They were married on June 13, 1959. In 1968 they moved to Yakima, Washington, and purchased a home where they raised their family. It was where Jo-Anne lived until she passed. Throughout her life, she worked many jobs, as a beautician, moving logs as a "river monkey," as a retail salesperson, at a Myrtlewood shop on the Oregon Coast, a seamstress, and a bookkeeper. Jo-Anne was the first woman in her family to get her drivers license. Before she was married, she took flying lessons and dreamed of getting her pilots license. She went to beauty school, graduated, and worked in a beauty shop. She attended Clackamas Community College and Yakima Valley Community College, where she took accounting classes, leading to her bookkeeping career. Jo-Anne loved her family and friends, and always welcomed in the friends of her children. She reserved a special, adoring love for her grandsons, Tyler, and Spencer. Jo-Anne would also reluctantly volunteer to dog-sit her grand dogs, but secretly enjoyed the companionship. We all loved her. She was always willing to help anyone with anything she could. She had many interests, and never missed an event in which her children were involved. She was involved with many different groups over the years, square dance, youth hockey, 4-H, Yakima Mycological Society, and Yakima Quilt Guild. She made quilts for Cottage in the Meadow and Quilts of Valor. She was a CTA (Certified Textile Advisor), volunteering countless hours judging home-ec entries at the Central Washington State Fair, and teaching children how to sew. Jo-Anne enjoyed living in the Pacific Northwest. She loved camping, hiking, fishing, clam digging, mushroom hunting, and berry picking. She had a cabin on Chinook Pass and enjoyed spending time there. She was a wonderful cook and baker. Many people will remember her scones or muffins, and her family will miss her sourdough biscuits and gravy. She canned and preserved the bounty from her northwest garden and the Cascade Mountains, pickles and huckleberry jam were favorites. She also sewed, quilted, knitted, and crocheted. In fact, countless friends and family enjoyed her oversized baby blankets, quilts, or will be hanging up personalized handcrafted Christmas stockings this December. She could do anything she put her mind to. Jo-Anne is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Scott Eldridge, and her youngest brother, Hob Buessow. She is survived by her children, Cynthia (David) Ariss, of South Bend, Washington, and Eric (Christina) Eldridge, of Yakima, Washington, her aunt, Violet Meyer, her brothers, Jerry (Phyllis) Buessow, and Larry Buessow, and grandsons, Tyler (Olivia) Johnston, and Spencer (Ashley) Johnston, both of Warrenton, Oregon, and Gregg (Sonia) Buessow, as well as lifelong friends who became family, Leo and Carol Hilzendeger, and their children, Laura Ramos and Jeff Hilzendeger. Jo-Anne helped feed and raise a village. She will be missed by many, many people. A Memorial Service will be held at Shaw & Sons (201 N. 2nd St., Yakima, WA 98901), on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at 11:00am. A Reception to celebrate Jo-Annes life will follow. Shaw & Sons Funeral Home is caring for the family. Memories and condolences can be shared at www.shawandsons.com. Click to view LIVE service