Joeann Lee Moran passed away Oct. 13, 2025 in Truckee, California, at 83, after a six-year battle with lung cancer.
Joeann was born in Deer River, Minnesota, where she grew up in a beloved extended family. After high school, she and her siblings drove the Al-Can highway to Fairbanks, Alaska. She attended junior college in Kansas City, Missouri and has fond memories of living with her aunt and rascally cousins. She continued her education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, achieving a BA and several credits towards a graduate degree in education. Joeann had a lifelong love of books and children’s literature, and instilled that same love in her three children and five grandchildren through many joyful hours reading aloud. She was an active volunteer her entire life, contributing at Burlington Memorial Hospital, and as a docent and educator for various other museums, libraries and schools. Joeann made homes for her family in Alaska, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin and California. She loved exploring her ancestry and surroundings through photographs and maintained a curiosity in nature and education throughout her life.
Joeann is survived by her husband, Jim Moran; children, Julie Adams Moran, Jill Moran Baxter and Jeff Moran; five grandchildren; siblings Carol Isaacs, Cathy Guastella and Frank Lee, Jr.; and numerous cousins.
Donations in Joeann Monan’s memory can be made to the Fairbanks Library Foundation at https://thelibraryfoundation.org/donate/.
