Joanne Doris Alviso McCullough

Joanne’s life began on October 18, 1939, in Madera, California. She was the eldest daughter of Frank & Virginia (Soto) Alviso. She was the first-born grandchild and cherished oldest cousin to many. Joanne came from a very large & proud California heritage that dates back 300+ years.

She had many names, Mom, Mommy, Grandma Jo, Auntie Jo, Sister, Jody, Joanne & Jo. She passed away at home Wednesday evening (Sept 1, 2021) surrounded by her daughter Deedee, son in law Harry, son’s Davey and Frankie Joe, daughter in law Becky, grand dog Sugar and her fur baby Lucky.

Joanne was a dedicated mother first and foremost. She treasured her children and embraced every moment with them. She especially loved her role as Grandma Jo. She had a vivacious personality and always made people around her smile. She made friends everywhere she went. She was generous with her heart and always had time to listen. 

Joanne loved playing pool, she started playing as a substitute for her daughter Dee’s pool team 1983. She didn’t want to play because she had never played before but agreed that she could luck into a win especially if her opponent didn’t show up. That was just the beginning of her love for pool. She’s played in many leagues and tournaments over the years and won many of them. One of her prize possessions was her red satin jacket she won with the women’s pool league for being top overall player and when she walked into a bar in that red jacket and her red cowboy boots carrying her pool stick case over her shoulder, she turned heads and then people watched the way she looked at her pool table and mapped out her game, you could see the love for it in her eyes. 

Joanne was very talented, she learned to play drums as a child from her dad Sony, she could pick out a few tunes on the piano, she loved crafting especially with flowers, she loved to journal, draw, paint and decorate. The living room furniture never stayed in the same place for more than a month or two before she was rearranging it. One of her greatest talent was whistling, she could whistle with her fingers, without her fingers, through a blade of grass, she was a Whistler and growing up as kids when she whistled, we came running, no other mom could whistle like our mom.

It wasn’t uncommon to find her at the Moose lodge on a Friday night, taking dinner orders, serving food, playing pool, laughing or singing karaoke with friends. She loved games, she used to say if you were her partner, you would lose but she loved it anyway. She played in Moose lodge cribbage and liars dice tournaments and at home we played Parcheesi, Yahtzee and her latest favorite was the card game Goat Lords and playing Sequence, which she proceeded to skunk Harry and I the last time we played. 

Her joy this last year was Tuesday google duo calls with Davey & Frankie, she loved talking to them and enjoyed their bantering. She loved the text messages from the great grandkids, a big highlight was FaceTime with the great great grandson’s especially at bath time. 

Joanne is survived by her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandson’s and a lot of family

• Her Daughter Deidra Lynn Mitchell, and son’s David Weldon McCullough Jr and Frank Joseph McCullough
• Mother-in-Law to Harry Mitchell and Rebecca McCullough
• Grandmother to Harry Allen, Vicki, John Paul & Heidi Mitchell, Aaron, Jessica Rose, Samantha & Frank McCullough and Renee Davis 
• Great Grandmother to Morgan & Cory, Jordan & Kenny & Macijah, Lilyanna & Jackson, Zaylah, Naomi & Jordan Roberts
• Great, Great Grandmother to Oliver & Lincoln
• Adopted/Surrogate family: Jessica, Danny, Jazzy & Lorenzo Rosales, David, Jennie, Riley, Harris & Jack Carter 
• Her sister Rosalie and her brothers Carlos, Kenny, Frank & Albert
• Her brother in law’s Ron & Michael and sister-in-law Beth McCullough
• Her Aunt Evelyn Juanita Alviso and Uncle Bob Alviso
• Her Alviso & Soto Cousin’s Jeri, Alexandra, Jeanette & Denny, Denise, Lauren & Barry, Michael & Richard, Timi, Ronnie, Cindy & Wayne, Bernie, Al, Kenny & Nick
• Plus, so many cousins, nieces, nephews, godchildren, family and friends that she loved

A celebration of her life will be held next year to honor her in California. 

Over the last week while Mom was in the hospital and then here at home, I shared all the messages of love with her, and she would tell me to say “Back at you”