Joanna Carol Spagnolini

August 2, 1936 – September 13, 2025

Joanna Carol Spagnolini, passed on peacefully Saturday September 13th, 2025 with her son and friends by her side.

In 1939 Joanna’s mother, Geraldine Manajarrez Spagnolini, headed to the Golden Gate International Exposition on San Francisco’s Treasure Island. Though the bay bridge had just been completed, visitors to the fair were transported by ferry. When Geraldine went into labor aboard the ferry they returned to the pier. Joanna often said if she had been born on Treasure Island, her name would have been Pearl.

Her youth was filled with adventure, going on road trips with the gear grinders, reading the typed drafts of beat poets, and taking modeling gigs. She met my father in San Francisco and was married in 1960.

She was the first in her family to graduate college and return for her masters in Spanish and Education at CSU Sacramento. Much of my own youth was spent in the CSUS library while she did her studies.

Both Joanna and Robert were teachers and my mother taught me many skills beyond my ABCs. From hammering a nail, to painting a bookcase, to changing a tire, there were many practical skills passed on. The most important lesson I received, however, was to be quiet when out in nature. There is nothing more simple and rewarding than listening to the forest.

Our summers were filled with camping along the Pacific Coast, traveling occasionally as far north as Canada and gathering roadside blackberries. Our harvest one year was large enough for her to can the berries on a Coleman stove while camped in a State Park. There were also summers spent at Lake Tahoe where she gave her time to be the nurse and accountant at Camp Noel Porter. The camp was run by Father Shaheen who was happiest in a collar and overalls sitting atop a tractor. Surely inspirational to Joanna.

The canvas tent that followed our many travels became a medieval pavilion at events in the Society for Creative Anachronism where she was known as Yolanda del Campo de Cerdaña. In the SCA she was renown for her skills in costuming, music, and lace making and was recipient of many awards including Order of the Laurel, Order of the Wooden Spoon, the Queen’s Order of Grace, and the Order of Arachne’s Web.

Several years were spent with Richard traveling the deserts and highways of California by motorcycle up until the birth of her grandson, John Alexander Coogan. John now has a three year old, Jamie as well as two new twins, George and Finley.

Joanna’s travels and works of faith took her to far flung locations. Mexico, Peru, and Argentina became preludes to Italy, China, and Albania, always seeking to teach the “kiddles”. After her brother Tony passed on, she decided to retire (again) by moving to Washington State where he had lived and took up teaching at the Lakeside Bible Camp and Whidbey Island Waldorf School. She had previously taught Spanish and music at the Sacramento Waldorf School and was my Spanish teacher for two years.

On Whidbey Island she acquired two goats and a dear friend, Dennis, who provided her barn space in exchange for laughter and bible study. Her 80th birthday was spent with Paul and Maggie as well as Joanna’s grandson John and his wife, Emily. When Dennis decided to start a larger farm in Kentucky, Joanna pulled up stakes and moved to the Bluegrass State with her silent canine companion, Tina. She often said she felt like she was finally home after all that travel and Saturday she finally rested.

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