In Memory

Joann Farley (Blizzard) - Class Of 1952 VIEW PROFILE

Joann Farley (Blizzard)

Joann Farley passed from this life August 31, 2021.  She was 87, born Jan 1, 1934 to the late Frank and Minnie Farley, of Burdine, Kentucky.  Preceding her in death were siblings, Bill Farley, Lois Perry and Ruth Holtzclaw. Surviving her are four children: Jane Thorsen, Richard Farley Blizzard, Jill Hoffmaster,David Blizzard, and one granddaughter, Ella Jane Hoffmaster. ​

JoAnn went to Burdine Grade School, and then to Jenkins High School, graduating in 1952, the salutatorian of her class.   She went to Eastern Kentucky State College and graduated in 1956 with honors, Kappa Delta Pi, and a Bachelor’s degree. (Kappa Delta Pi is an international honor society).  

Her engagement to Navy Lieutenant Richard “Dick” Blizzard, son of Spencer and Beulah Blizzard of Jenkins, was announced May 22, 1958 in “The Mountain Eagle,” a local newspaper.  Joann Farley and Richard “Dick” Blizzard were married October 18, 1958 in a double ring ceremony at the Christian Church in Jenkins, with Hillary Finch presiding.  They moved to Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where Dick was serving as a Navy pilot with the Atlantic Fleet.  The move marked the first of many life adventures for Joann.  

​As the wife of a military pilot, and later a commercial pilot, Joann was the mainstay of her family during Dick’s frequent absences.  She filled many roles, schoolteacher, homemaker, and mother, but she cherished most her role of mother. Her life had taken her far from her humble upbringings in Eastern Kentucky. She had lived in cities on both coasts—in Pensacola, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Park City, Utah, and Camas, Washington. After Dick retired from Delta, Joann spent a year as First Mate on the family yacht, “Cumberland,” sailing the West Coast from Alaska to Mexico.

​In their last move together, Joann and Dick settled in Vonore, TN in a beautiful resort village called Tellico Lakes, not far from the Smoky mountains and East Tennessee. Dick had traded his ocean yacht for a large motorhome, and they traveled to Florida for holidays and special occasions, but the visits were far too brief.  The far-flung travel and adventures she had enjoyed with Dick had taken her from the proximity of family.  As she was approaching 80, she decided to spend the remaining years of her life in Florida surrounded by family.   As described by her son David, the marriage of his mother and father, spanning 50 years, ended in perhaps the most amicable divorce in human history.  After Joann returned to Pensacola, she shared a house with her daughter Jill, and got to enjoy her only grand-daughter, Ella Jane.  Dick Blizzard died on August 4, 2021. Joann Farley died on the last day of the same month.  They were both 87. 

 

 


 

 





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