Joenne Stanesic

Joenne Stanesic, a longtime resident of Junction City, KS passed away April 27, 2013 at the Kay Pogue Hospice Center in Salina. She was 80 years old.

Born in Omaha, NE on August 17, 1932, Joenne Flynn graduated from Cathedral High School before attending Creighton University. In August of 1953, she married a young dentist, John Stanesic. As they started their family, they moved to Fort Riley then Junction City and created a life together that would produce five children, 14 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and 60 years of love and laughter.

Joenne had a deep love for things of beauty and a thirst for adventure, and her life was often focused on the pursuit of both. She took equal delight in unearthing a rare treasure at many a farm and estate sale and then packing up the bus for a weekend of camping, skiing, cooking on the camp fire and watching her family grow.

Joenne was a studied and disciplined craftswoman and worked daily on the many projects she created. With a modesty at odds with her considerable talents, she created beautiful works of art. She has left her friends and family with a collection of hand-hooked rugs and hand-stitched quilts that will continue to enrich their lives long into the future.

She enjoyed sharing her love of everything old, and in the early 80's opened her antique store, The Serendipity Shop, a name she chose because she loved it when life events aligned into what she called 'happy accidents". She also enjoyed a close-knit group of friends that played bridge together for more than 40 years; she and John continued to play until declining health halted their weekly games.

Joenne had a passion for education and learning that was a lifelong endeavor. For Joenne, a passing fancy was no match for expertise. At one time or another, she was a certified pre-school teacher, and held licenses as a ham radio operator, an emergency medical technician and a real estate agent. None of these was required; it simply seemed to Joenne that anything worth doing was worth doing not just well, but expertly. She also proved a perfect partner for John both chair-side as a dental assistant and keeping the books as the office manager for the practice.

But none of Joenne's many and varied passions could match the dedication and care she extended to her family, a group for which a blood relation was hardly a requirement. The Stanesic home was a collage of children, neighbors, friends, and near strangers drawn to the constant hum of laughs, friendship, sprawling meals, and all manner of projects and interests.

It should surprise no one that Joenne would pass away so soon after the passing of her loving husband, John, who preceded her in death by just two months. Also preceding Joenne in death was daughter Terri. Joenne is survived by her children, Beth Lull, Edward Stanesic, Corey Scillian and Matthew Stanesic, sons-in-law Dennis Lull, Steve Brown, and Devin Scillian, daughter-in-law Cindi Stanesic, 14 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. Xavier Catholic Church in Junction City on May 6 at 11 AM. Joenne's ashes will be interred at St. Mary's Cemetery in Junction City. It was Joenne's wish that any contributions in her memory be given to St. Xavier Church, or to the Junction City YMCA.