JoAnn Linda Maese

JoAnn Linda Maese was born on August 3, 1944, in New York City, the eldest of three sisters. The family relocated to El Paso, Texas and it was there that she graduated from Loretto Academy.

After graduation, JoAnn moved back to NYC but soon she began a new chapter on the west coast in Orange County, California where she married and her daughter Michelle was born. Not long after, they moved to New Jersey where daughter Allyson was born. The family settled into a house in the township of Denville.

With an acre of land at home, JoAnn began her lifelong passion with gardening. She also became interested in politics and was elected to the Denville Town Council. There she served as Chairperson of the Recreation Committee, where she proudly oversaw the town’s 10-acre community garden. Ever since, no matter where she was, JoAnn always kept flowers, fruits, and veggies.

In the late 1970s, the family relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and after years of being a full-time mom, she re-entered the workforce, first as a bank teller then in customer service roles at American Express and PCS Caremark. With a natural knack for problem-solving and sharp attention to detail, she made the unique transition from being a call center rep to a quality assurance tester for business applications.

JoAnn thrived working in IT using her self-proclaimed lack of technical skills to her advantage. She often joked she was good at her job because she could press a button and break code in ways developers never even thought about. Her straight-forward style and humor earned her much respect and many friends amongst her co-workers. She retired from Caremark in 2010.

Besides her children and work, JoAnn was most proud of the transformation she made later in life, committing to her long-term wellbeing and taking care of herself inside and out. She began a healthy eating regime and became an amateur expert in all things skin care. Her efforts paid off; it’s not an exaggeration to say she looked better in her 60s than she did in her 40s!

Always the fashionista, she was usually immaculately put together: cute outfit, matching jewelry, coordinated purse, and never without the perfect shade of lipstick. She loved hearing that she didn’t look her age. It meant the world to her that people noticed her skin and weight loss because she worked so hard for them.

JoAnn was strong, stylish, sharp, and absolutely herself. She could get equally excited about a sale at Costco as she could be about going to Hawaii (where she also went to Costco). She dabbled in the stock market and turned out to have a knack for finance. She loved listening to Nora Roberts and John Sandford audiobooks. She made the best tomato soup with homemade noodles hand-cranked through her old pasta machine. More than anything, she enjoyed being Mom and spending time with her family both two and four-legged. She leaves behind a lot of laughter, more than a few stubborn opinions, and a legacy of love.

When talking about family history, JoAnn would always say “we come from good peasant stock.” Preceding her in death were her beloved grandmother (Nana) Genevieve “Jenny” Berek, her mother Ann Lindenberg, and her sister Jeanniene Sobel Sergio. Those left to cherish her in memory are her daughters Michelle and Allyson, her grand-daughter Genevieve “Genna” Van Voris, and her surviving sister Deena Campacci. A Celebration of Life will be held in Phoenix May 10, 2025.

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