Joanie's obituary as it appeared in our local newspaper, The Union Democrat, on Wednesday, April 28.

Joan ‘Joanie’ Marie Carle
May 6, 1946 — April 10, 2010

Twain Harte resident Joan “Joanie” Marie Carle died April 10 at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. She was 63. She was born in Glendale and lived in Twain Harte for 31 years. She worked as an elementary school teacher for 36 years, 27 of those years in Sonora at Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy.

She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Sonora Seventh-day Adventist Church and Mother Lode Art Association. She spent one year as a missionary in Hong Kong, and traveled around the world on the way back. She enjoyed traveling and painting, especially watercolors.

She is survived by her husband of 35 years, Lance Carle, of Twain Harte; a son, Troy Carle, of Auburn, Wash.; a sister, Brenda Holden, of Riverside; five nieces and nephews; and two in-laws.

She was preceded in death by her father, Bob Hoatson, in 1989; her mother, Louise Hoatson-Carr in 2010. Services were held April 17 at the Sonora Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Donations can be made to the Art Education Fund, Reading Program Fund at the Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy, 80 N. Forest Road, Sonora, CA 95370.


**I've posted some pictures of Joanie through the years. They can be viewed at: JoanieHoatsonCarle.shutterfly.com with "Joanie" as the password.

April 29, 2010

I've posted some pictures of Joanie through the years. They can be viewed at: JoanieHoatsonCarle.shutterfly.com with "Joanie" as the password.

A long time friend, Janine B, wrote these kind words about Joanie..."Just a couple of recollections of times long before Troy was born: One Halloween in the 70's when we had no money but lots of energy Joanie thought up a great way for us to have fun at Halloween. A bunch of us (all about the age Troy is now) dressed up as ghosts wearing sheets and crawled on our knees up to the front doors of our friends' and parents' houses to trick or treat. None of them guessed who we were until we threw off the sheets and screamed, "Trick or Treat." Then there was hilarious laughter by all. I don't remember that we got any treats but we sure had fun.

Another time when Joanie was living in the house next door to her parents she had mono and had a terrible sore throat. She had just bought a gorgeous set of yellow and white dishes at Abacus in Pasadena. She had gone to look at the dishes about 8 times before they finally went on sale. She was always making sure nobody broke any of those dishes. When she got up in the night with the sore throat, she desperately wanted ice chips, but the ice cubes had sort of frozen together into one big lump in the freezer. Of course Joanie was still half asleep when she got the idea to break them apart. So she put the lump of ice into one of her new yellow and white bowls and then hit it hard with a hammer. Naturally the ice cubes stayed together in one big lump but the bowl ended up in pieces all over the floor. I still remember how hard Joanie laughed in relating this to us at school.

I also remember the time Joanie was teaching second grade at Glendale and one of her students kept bringing her the ugliest pieces of jewelry. Joanie kindly told him thank you and just kept shoving the jewelry into the back of her desk drawer. About 2 weeks and 10 pieces of jewelry later the little boy's mother showed up at Joanie's classroom in a frantic state. Her missing jewelry was worth tens of thousands of dollars. Joanie never did figure out if the mother was more upset because the boy had given it to his teacher or because Joanie had just pushed it into the drawer thinking it was really awful junk jewelry.

Joanie not only had an infectious sense of humor, she also was the first to laugh at herself. She was always kind of others but never took herself too seriously. She was a talented artist, a curious learner, and a person who lived life with joyful enthusiasm. I will carry with me the good memories of the times Joanie and I spent together as students at La Sierra and as colleagues and friends at Glendale Academy..."

Thursday morning

Finally it looks like a beautiful morning in Twain Harte after a trace of snow Sunday evening and Monday morning. The sky is blue and the sun is shinning. Joanie used to love to sit and look out the windows at the our surroundings, especially in the spring. The birds and squirrels provided many hours of entertainment for her. Joanie still enjoyed watching the herds of deer tromp through the yard but was less excited when they had their way with the few plants not already eaten by their cousins! In Joanie's honor, I'm flying the American flag (a new one she ordered for me at Christmas) at half staff. She will be interred soon at the Dambacher Mountain Memorial Cemetery located 4-5 miles past Sonora on Lyon's Bald Mt. Rd. We are not planning any kind of a service at the cemetery.

Joanie's cousin, Judy from Norway, is the first to arrive. It is wonderful to have so many family members and friends coming--Joanie would have enjoyed seeing and talking to each one.

Troy, Brenda, and I are working on some pictures that we'll be projecting at her memorial on Sabbath. We plan to start them before the service at 3:00 pm and then play them again after the service concludes.

Thanks for your comments and prayers. It is especially fun to hear from former students who talk about Joanie's influence on their lives. Just today I heard from a student who said she and her brother sing some of Joanie's songs to her child many years after learning them from Joanie.

One of the many texts Joanie had underlined in her Bible: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

1 John 5:13 (NIV)

Monday evening update.

We continue to hear nice things about Joanie from friends, old friends and former students. Between that and looking at photos of her our hearts are touched with many good memories. Thank you for sharing with us. It amazes us how people learn about Joanie's death and how fast word travels.

Several people have offered to make food but at this point that generous offer is not needed. Brenda, Joanie's sister, feels like that is something that she can do to keep her mind off the sadness we are feeling. Thanks so much for your generosity.

The following is a statement that Janet, the school secretary, sent out today.

"A memorial service for Mrs. Carle is scheduled for Sabbath, April 17, at 3:00 p.m. in the Sonora Seventh-day Adventist Church sanctuary, and all are invited to attend the service and the potluck fellowship meal following the service. Mr. Carle has requested that no flowers be sent to the service or to his home. Memorial gifts may be sent to Mother Lode Adventist Jr. Academy, 80 N. Forest Rd., Sonora, CA 95370, marked for either the MLAJA Reading Program Trust Fund or the MLAJA Art Education Trust Fund. These are both programs that were dear to Mrs. Carle's heart."

Memorial Plans

Saturday evening, at about 6:00 PM, Joanie passed away. She had been kept alive with a respirator for the past four days. Joanie looked very peaceful and comfortable the entire time she was in the hospital. Within 30 minutes of removing her from life support she died.

A memorial is being planned for next Sabbath afternoon, April 17, at 3:00 PM, at the Sonora Adventist Church (40 N Forest Rd, Sonora, CA 95370), our home church for the past 31 years.

Joanie's had a serious brain hemorrhage.

On Tuesday evening Joanie arrived in Sacramento after two weeks in Europe with her sister, Brenda, and Dad. She slept on and off on the ride back to Twain Harte and went to bed as soon as they arrived home. At 3am she woke Dad up because she needed to go to the bathroom. She fell in the process of trying to get out of the recliner. Dad helped her get into the bathroom. An hour later she called out again because she was nauseated. A few minutes later she started complaining of a headache and an upset stomach.

She seemed disoriented and had trouble using her arms so Dad called our neighbor Nancy (a former head ER nurse) to help him with her. Mom slipped out of consciousness and they called 911. Three fire engines and an ambulance arrived.

Mom was transported to the hospital in Sonora. They did a CAT scan and saw lots of bleeding in her brain. They decided she needed to be moved to a hospital with a Neuro/Trauma center. The doctors searched for an opening at several regional hospitals. Memorial in Modesto had an opening and she was flown by helicopter to the hospital. Dad tried to talk his way onto the flight but there was not enough room. He headed home to pack and drove down with Bonnie Peterson.

Mom was first taken to the emergency department and evaluated there. She was then moved into the ICU, where she is right now. The hospital staff have been wonderful and she is, coincidentally, in the same room in which she was admitted when she took her tumble down the train steps.

At this point, her brain functionality is very minimal and she is on a ventilator. We are not expecting her to recover. The family is all here and Brenda, Dad, and I are consulting with her doctors for the next steps.

At this point, we'd like to request that you not come to the hospital to visit. The waiting room space is minimal and only two people can be with Joanie at any time. Please remember that flowers are not permitted in ICU.

We appreciate your concern and ask for all of your prayers.

Joanie visits the ENT

We had our appointment with Dan to check on the broken bones in her face. We were nervous because it seemed likely that surgery was going to be required. Dan saw no evidence of a break below her eye and the nose, which was broken in two places, has healed nicely. There is a slight bump in her nose, but if you can see it, you are getting too close! If after six months, Joanie wishes to, he can do surgery on it. At this point we're thinking that isn't likely to happen. It was great to look at the CT scan of her face on Dan's computer screen and view all the different layers and views they took. I'd sent them three CD's from Memorial Hospital. When we left, I took the CD's and dropped them off at Steve's office so he can see what her shoulder and arm break look like.