08/26/2015
Joanne Bridget (McConville) Maher August 16, 1930 – August 26, 2015
Resident of Sunnyvale
Joanne Maher, the beloved wife of Daniel Maher, passed away in Arlington, Wa, on August 26th. Joanne was 85 years old.
Joanne was born in Centerville, Iowa on August 16, 1930, to Ben and Edith McConville.
The family later moved to Knoxville, Iowa, where Joanne attended Knoxville High School and later attended Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa, where she met her husband of 63 years at a Marycrest-St. Ambrose College dance.
Upon completion of pharmacy school at the University of Iowa and with two small children, the family moved to California in 1953. After settling in Sunnyvale, Dan would spend most of the next 50 years as a pharmacist and owner of several drugstores, where the couple would raise their 8 children.
Joanne was an active volunteer at both St. Martin’s Elementary School and St. Francis High School in Mountain View. She and Dan would spend many hours on the bleachers and traveling all over California cheering their sons on to victory on the gridiron, basketball courts, and baseball fields. Upon Dan’s semi-retirement, they moved to Hollister in 1989 and lived on a golf course where they enjoyed a little country living.
Dan and Joanne moved back to Sunnyvale in 2008 and later to Arlington, WA in 2013. Joanne was a loving, kind, and generous lady, but what she loved more than anything else was spending time with her family. Her favorite hobby (gift!) was her beautiful singing voice, which she shared with the St. Martin’s Church choir for almost 30 years.
Joanne was preceded in death by Dan in 2014. She is succeeded by her loving brother, Lawrence McConville, and her children Diane Bowers, Bridget Centofante (Charlie), Dr. Michael Maher (Linda), Timothy Maher (Cindy), Brian Maher (Lanie), Douglas Maher (Donna), Nate Maher and Ned Maher. Grandmother of 17 and Great-Grandmother of 18.
Funeral Mass is planned for Thursday, September 10th at 10:00 am at St. Martin’s Church, 590 Central Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. Interment following at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations are requested for the St. Francis High School of Mountain View, CA Scholarship Fund.