JoAnne (JoAnnie, Nannie) Maria Woods<\/p>\n
JoAnne was born February 22, 1949, at St. John’s Hospital in Helena, MT.\u00a0 She was so anxious to arrive that she was born before making it to the delivery room.\u00a0 She was the third child of Joe and Jo (Merzlock) Woods.\u00a0 Her Baptism into the Catholic church was held on March 6, 1949, at St. Helena Cathedral and she continued reception of the Sacraments throughout her life at the Cathedral.<\/p>\n
She attended St. Helena Grade School and was in the second graduating class (1967) of the new Helena Catholic Central High (currently Capital High).\u00a0 JoAnne continued studies at Carroll College, Helena and Rocky Montana College, Billings.\u00a0 While at Carroll she was a member of SPURS, an academic achievement club.<\/p>\n
JoAnne was always quiet, kind, helpful, studious and adventurous.\u00a0 She was a Godmother to several children and embraced those sacred responsibilities and she loved being an aunt to all her nieces and nephews.<\/p>\n
She felt blessed to travel to several Marian apparition sites throughout the world with cherished friends.\u00a0 Other adventures included living in Mexico and Washington state.<\/p>\n
Boulder River School and Hospital in Boulder, MT is where she found and developed her vocation \u2013 caring for others especially those in most need.\u00a0 Later she worked at the old Cooney Nursing Home.\u00a0 JoAnne then moved to Butte, America for a few years and worked at St. James Hospital.\u00a0 She enjoyed her caregiving immensely and wished to do more so she returned to Helena and earned her LPN degree in 1981 and began working at St. Peter’s Hospital.\u00a0 A natural caregiver, she carried Christ’s compassion to others.\u00a0 In moments of difficulty, she was a steady presence through quiet strength, comfort and unwavering care.\u00a0 Her heart was attuned to God’s grace and the dignity of every person.\u00a0 Eventually she moved on to medical billing for Blue Cross-Blue Shield and retired from Montana State Fund.<\/p>\n
Later in life JoAnne cared for our parents in their home for many years until Dad’s passing at 93 (2008) and Mom’s at 101 (2014).\u00a0 During these years she worked part-time and retired early in order to provide full-time care. She also helped our brother Joe and cousin Chuck during their battles with cancer.<\/p>\n
JoAnne was instrumental in the continuing spiritual development of her siblings as well as many other people, encouraging reading Catholic books, praying the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, and attending daily Mass.\u00a0 JoAnne loved Jesus and His Blessed Mother Mary and she clung to them.\u00a0 Her legacy of faith, love and service will continue to live in the hearts of all who were blessed to know her.<\/p>\n
The last few years of her life she lived courageously with the ravages of PSP, a neurological disease.\u00a0 It took everything from her except her humor and love.\u00a0 She persevered to the end calmly and with a smile and passed naturally and peacefully on January 10, 2026.\u00a0 As His good and faithful servant, she accomplished everything asked of her with love, patience, kindness and humility.\u00a0 We believe she’s in Heaven and gloriously in the arms of Jesus and we miss her with all our hearts.<\/p>\n
Preceding her in death were her parents Joe and Jo (Merzlock) Woods; her Grandparents Joseph and Lucy Merzlock and John and Rose Woods; her infant brother; her brother Joe; her niece Thalia Rose Reeves; her sister-in-law Lynn Woods; and her brother-in-law Bob Williams; as well as all her aunts, uncles and several cousins.\u00a0 JoAnne is survived by her sisters Mary (Dave) Schlick, Gerri (David) Payne and Peggy Jo Williams, and her brother John (Melinda) Woods, as well as nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends.<\/p>\n
We are immensely grateful for our Priests, Deacons, clergy and parish staff for their countless blessings, Masses, prayers, cards and support, as well as JoAnne’s beloved family members and dear friends.\u00a0 And we are incredibly thankful, too, for her many wonderful medical providers and caregivers; you know who you are and we will remember you with respect and admiration.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers JoAnne would ask you to make a donation to the Cathedral of St. Helena and give to the poor.<\/p>\n
Funeral services are scheduled for January 20, 2026, at the 12:00 noon Mass at the Cathedral of St. Helena.\u00a0 The Rosary will be prayed before Mass at 11:30 a.m.\u00a0 A luncheon will follow immediately downstairs in the Brondel Center.\u00a0 Private family burial will be held later.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Woods-JoAnne-edited.jpeg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Funeral Mass","event_date1":"2026-01-20","start_time1":"12:00 p.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Cathedral of St. Helena","address1":"530 N. Ewing Street","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"","event_title2":"Funeral Reception","event_date2":"2026-01-20","start_time2":"Immediately following the Mass","end_time2":"","location2":"Brondel Center","address2":"Located in the lower level of the Cathedral","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"Burial","event_date3":"2026-01-20","start_time3":"Private Burial with Family Present","end_time3":"","location3":"Resurrection Cemetery","address3":"","city3":"Helena","state3":"Montana","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}