JoAnn (Stevens) Reif was born to William and Minnie Stevens April 14, 1935 in their farm home in Dillsboro, Indiana. JoAnn was the youngest of the nine Stevens children, five brothers, Paul, Bill, Bine, Pete and David Stevens, and three sisters, Inez Calender, Virginia Harmeyer and Ruby Clayton. She was preceded in death by her parents, all of her brothers and sisters and their spouses, niece Sharon Cutter, nephews Don Stevens and David Clayton, and her son Thomas Steven Reif on May 13, 2017. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Jack L. Reif; her daughter Amy Elizabeth Reif; daughter-in-law Ann McDavid Reif; four grandchildren, Rev. Elizabeth Reif (Ed) Soto, Dr. Margaret Reif, Donald Reif and Lauren Dorsey; two great-grandchildren Teddy and Eli Soto; and a large contingent of nieces and nephews mostly in Indiana, and cousins mostly in Kentucky.
JoAnn grew up on the Stevens farm and graduated from Dillsboro High School in June 1953 as the class salutatorian. She earned a full scholarship to The Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Cincinnati, Ohio where she graduated in 1956 and received her Ohio Registered Nurse certification in May 1956. In spring of 1955 she met Jack Reif, an engineering student at the University of Cincinnati, on a blind date at a formal dance sponsored by the nursing school students. They were engaged on April 13, 1956. Following her graduation from nursing school she and two other nursing friends took a nursing position at the Adams County hospital in West Union, Ohio. JoAnn left West Union and she and Jack were married in the Dillsboro, Indiana Methodist Church on April 13, 1957. Following a honeymoon to Florida, they took up residence in a third-floor apartment in Mount Auburn Cincinnati near The Christ Hospital where she became employed, then shortly moved to a basement apartment even closer to the hospital.
The couple was expecting their first child, so JoAnn left her nursing position at The Christ Hospital and she and Jack moved to a home they had bought in Milford, Ohio on October 31, 1957. Her first child, Thomas Steven Reif was born in 1958 and her second child, Amy Elizabeth Reif was born in 1959. When the children were of school age, she returned to a half-time nursing position at The Christ Hospital. The growing family moved to a larger home they had built in Day Heights near Milford in 1970. Her son Tom graduated in 1976 and daughter Amy graduated in 1978 from Milford Ohio high school. She worked until retirement from The Christ Hospital in 1997 credited with about 30 years of service. Her husband Jack retired from Cincinnati Milacron in March of 1999. No longer needing a large home, she and Jack moved into a Traverse Creek condominium in 2015.
JoAnn’s health began to decline with heart and lung issues. After several severe breathing illnesses and emergency room visits, she contemplated heart valve replacement and some forms of lung treatments hoping to improve her breathing difficulties. Her heart and lung specialists finally agreed that her lungs were the major problem and heart valve replacement could not be justified. She had a couple of very bad breathing situations that needed emergency room care. Finally, she had to obtain rehab care at SEM Haven rehab and nursing care center followed by a short stay in nursing care, but she wanted to be at home. After a trial of home health care, she decided that a return to the nursing home was the best choice. In the fall of 1991, she became a full-time resident of the SEM Haven nursing care center. She qualified for hospice care for a while, but improved to the point she became a regular nursing care resident. After a positive COVID-19 test in the fall of 2022 she began to decline. By early 2023 her health condition requalified her for hospice care. By February 2023 she faded rapidly and went into a coma from which she did not recover. She passed away quietly without pain on February 15, 2023 and following her funeral service will be interred in the Oakdale Cemetery in Dillsboro, Indiana.
Family and friends may gather in remembering JoAnn from 10:00 – 11:00 AM Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the Dillsboro United Methodist Church, 10071 Front Street, Dillsboro, IN 47018. A service will immediately follow at 11:00 AM with Pastor Deb Beason officiating. Burial will take place in Oakdale Cemetery. Memorials may be given in honor of JoAnn to the Salvation Army, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, or Dillsboro United Methodist Church.
Filter-DeVries-Moore Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements: Box 146, Dillsboro, IN 47018, (812) 432-5480. Please visit our website at www.filterdevriesmoore.com to share your condolences and memories of JoAnn.