JoAnne Stretcher

JoAnne (Gilbert) Stretcher passed away Saturday, December 7, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 14, 2019, at Curry-Welborn Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant, Texas with visitation from 11:00 - 12:30 p.m.

JoAnne was born on February 13, 1935, in Mt. Vernon, TX to Johnnie and Ruby (McGill) Gilbert. After embarking on a career with Southland Life Insurance in Dallas, she returned home to marry Charles Stretcher on September 1, 1956, at the Prairie Grove Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, Texas, where she was baptized at the age of 14. As an adult she was an active member of the Mt. Vernon First Baptist Church where her husband served as a deacon until his death, and she taught Bible class, VBS, would cook for the youth at Falls Creek church camp in the summers, and numerous other activities.

JoAnne had deep ties to the Mt. Vernon Independent School District. While supporting the band by operating the concession stand at ballgames and constantly helping her husband, Charles, and the Mt. Vernon FFA, JoAnne left her work at the Mt. Vernon Optic Herald newspaper to go to work for the school district as an instructional aide in 1983. She was beloved by the students she worked with until her retirement in 1999.

Following her retirement, JoAnne immersed herself in numerous volunteer endeavors with the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Franklin County Library, and the Franklin County Historical Society and other groups. She had an incredible love and remarkable talent for growing flowers. This was always on display by the garden plot she kept on the Mt. Vernon square and the numerous requests she had for her daylilies that she cross-pollinated herself to create her own colors and varieties. JoAnne loved gardening, quilting, and spending time with her family – especially her grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Charles Stretcher, along with three brothers Paul Gilbert, Dale Gilbert, and Jackie Gilbert, as well as three sisters Mavis Glover, Jean Lamberth, and Dorothy Grau, and two infant siblings.

Surviving relatives include her three children Ron Stretcher, and his wife Yvonne, of Dallas, Texas; Sue Stretcher of Dallas, Texas; and Mark Stretcher, and his wife Terri, of Jacksboro, Texas; three sisters Marie Sparks of Ft. Worth, Texas; Gay Pryor of Ft. Worth, Texas; and Joyce Glover of McKinney, Texas; brother-in-law Buddy Stretcher, and wife Polly, of Mt. Vernon, Texas; sister-in-law Fannie Stretcher, of Mt. Vernon, Texas; three grandchildren Amanda Stretcher of Dallas, Texas; Whitney Stretcher of Millsap, Texas; and David Stretcher, and wife Cheyenne, of Sanger, Texas; and several nieces and nephews.