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Joanne Greer Mathews

We mourn the passing of a truly lovely and loving sister, wife, mother and grandmother who will be greatly missed by all who were her friends and family. Joanne Greer Mathews of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, died on Nov. 29, 2018, at the age of 76 after a long illness with congestive heart failure. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio on June 21, 1942, to Robert Tracy Mathews and Elizabeth Ann Mathews.

She attended Hubbard High School in Hubbard, Ohio, from 1956 to 1960. She was voted homecoming queen in her senior year and was student council president. She could always be found at the dairy farm of her parents, Bob and Betty Mathews, in Hubbard.

From 1960 to 1961 she attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the National Alumnae Chapter Alpha XI Delta. From 1961 to 1964 she attended Ohio State University, where she graduated with a degree in education.

She married Donald Eugene Zimmerman on April 10, 1965 and moved to El Dorado Hills, Calif., to start their family. She and her family then moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1987, where she was an English instructor at North Idaho College from 1988 to 2008, when she retired. She also obtained her master’s degree in education from the University of Idaho in 1991; she was pursuing her doctorate in 2000. She also contracted as a computer consultant and trainer out of retirement helping many people young and old alike with practical applications.

Joanne was passionate about education and learning for all. Her brand was “MATHEWS INSTITUTE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING, Learning changes lives!” One of her notable hobbies included genealogy of her family. She was the matriarch of the family, loved her grandchildren, and was always involved in their education and life choices. She loved dogs, particularly German shepherds, and had many of her own through the years that were always by her side. She had many wonderful qualities, among them loyalty, compassion and kindness to all that she met. She was always there to talk and listen to anyone that needed her. She had the most valuable advice for anyone; family, friends and her students. She was very beautiful, strong, smart, compassionate, loving and had a huge heart. Her laugh and smile were always on display.

She is survived by her sister, Marilyn Elizabeth Woldarski and brother, Robert Rex Mathews, both of Hubbard; her daughters, Tracy Ann Sheldon of Littleton, Colo., and Debra Lynn Clark of Coeur d’Alene; and grandchildren, Ashley Anna Sheldon and Jonathan Walter Sheldon, both of Littleton, and Devon Lynn Clark and Darian Lynn Clark, both of Coeur d’Alene.

A graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, at Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens, 7315 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815. Bell Tower Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.