My Mother's Obituary

 

Jo Ann Elizabeth (Koviak) Mitchell

12 December 1936 -- 15 September 2004

Jo Ann Elizabeth (Koviak) Mitchell has left this earthly existence, peacefully departing her body while asleep at home in Seaside, CA.

Born to Tony and Mildred Koviak in St. Louis, MO, Jo Ann and her family moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, where she attended St. Angela’s School and was a member of the first graduating class of Junipero Memorial High School in 1954. That December she married her husband of 25 years, Jake Mitchell, and they moved to Hawthorne, CA.

Their children came soon thereafter -- Misty, Heather, and then Jeffrey -- and Jo Ann spent the next decade fulfilling her duties as a good mother and wife. With the dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the late 60’s, Jo Ann’s cosmic consciousness blossomed, and she embarked upon her quest for knowledge and enlightenment that continues now in her afterlife. Caught up in the wave of liberation that came with early feminist ideas, Jo Ann studied to become a registered nurse, and worked full-time in the psychiatric unit of Hawthorne Community Hospital. It was there, in 1973, that Jo Ann met co-worker Betty Monaghan, who became her best friend and partner in life. Jo Ann went on to get her Master’s Degrees in Psychology and Philosophy and continued to study and develop her talents in the metaphysical arts.

Jo Ann moved with Betty to Pacific Grove in 1979, working at and eventually retiring from Community Hospital in 1992. In the 80’s, Jo Ann focused her healing talents and loving energy on people with AIDS, working with the Monterey County AIDS project, and the arrival of Jo Ann’s dear granddaughters Paige and Briley Butterfield caused her heart to overflow with joy and happiness. Over the years, Jo Ann delved deeply into advanced esoteric studies, focusing on comparative religions, astrology and the tarot. She was affectionately known as Tarotmama to many of her friends, and she was a source of support, counsel, wisdom and abundant love for everyone she knew, most recently helping family and friends through the passing of her sister Sharon Grout.

She will be sorely missed by all who loved her, and all whom she loved and left behind: her beloved life partner Betty Monaghan, her children’s father Jake Mitchell, her children Misty Butterfield, Heather and Richard Borgaro, and Jeffrey and Christian Mitchell-Matthews, her granddaughters Paige and Briley Butterfield, her sisters Elaine Head and Julia Janikula and their families, her brother Michael Koviak and his family, her brother-in-law Gene Grout and his family, lots of nieces, nephews, cousins and other family members, and countless friends and loved ones whose lives were forever changed by this remarkable woman.

A celebration of JoAnn’s life will be held at the Unity Church Of Monterey Bay on Friday, September 24^th at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jo Ann’s memory to one of her favorite charities: the SPCA, Lambda Legal, or Planned Parenthood.