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IN MEMORY

JoAnne Schnell (Dotson) - Class Of 1955

Joanne Evelyn Dotson passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family on Sunday, June 23, 2019. She was preceded in death by her husband and love of her life, Charles Acie Dotson (whom she married November 4, 1955), her parents Elmer W. Schnell and Evelyn Schwartz Schnell, and her sister, Joyce Rex of Purcell, Oklahoma. She is survived by a sister Carole (Alex) Hermann of Warren, Ohio, daughter Denise (Paul) Gifford of Kenosha, Wisconsin, daughter Debra (Robert) Hurley of Morrisville, North Carolina, and son Robert (Julie) Dotson of Jonesborough, Tennessee. Joanne had eight grandchildren: Matthew (Tessa) Dotson, Michael Dotson, Scott (Rebecca) Gifford, Janet (Edward) Martig, Elizabeth Hurley and her fiance Michael Raynor, Madeline Hurley, Nicholas Hurley, and Julie (Robert) Cameron, and FIVE great-grandchildren, Mackenzie Joanne Dotson, Lucien Dotson, Eleanor Martig, Charles Martig, and Henry Cameron.

She was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She traveled with her husband as he served in the U. S. Navy. They moved to Florida in 1983 after he retired.  Joanne graduated cum laude from the University of North Florida in 1998 with her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (at the age of 59). After graduation, Joanne worked as a Project Manager for Challenge Enterprises in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Challenge Enterprises is a non-profit organization that provides programs, services, and work opportunities for individuals with special needs. She worked with Challenge Enterprises for twenty years before she retired in August of 2018. She enjoyed helping the local athletes participate in Special Olympics – organizing practices and local competitions. She organized the alternative spring break program and coordinated monthly dances for clients.

Joanne was a member of Advent Lutheran Church in Orange Park, Florida and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary. She was a member of the Civitan Club of Clay County where she enjoyed volunteering at events in her community. She was a member of the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary in Florida. After living more than thirty years in Florida, she relocated to Durham, North Carolina in September of 2018 to be close to her family.

There will be a private service at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL, at a later date, where Joanne will be interred with her husband. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Joanne Dotson can be sent to Challenge Enterprises at 3530 Enterprise Way, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043.

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Published in the Florida Times-Union from June 28 to June 30, 2019