Joanne Lanier Facaros

April 15, 1935- January 28, 2026

Joanne died peacefully in her sleep after suffering a devastating fall and extremely painful fractured vertebra two weeks earlier. George, her husband of 70 years, died five days before her passing. They were always together in life, and now they are again.

Born in Alamosa, Colorado, Joanne was only daughter of Robert and Olive Lanier, survived by her brothers Loren and Dennis, her children Dana and Nick, her grandchildren Jackson, Kaliisa, Lily and Wren, and great grandchildren Freyja, Leo, Arlo and Sullivan.

Joanne was a strong, down to earth, independent woman who didn’t suffer fools gladly, but was also huge fun to be around and made friends easily. She had a great sense of humor and keen wit. Although she hated ever asking anyone for help, she was always the first to offer it. She went way beyond the call of duty caring for her beloved husband George over the five years when he suffered from worsening dementia.

She loved numbers. Even before she went to school, her hobby was memorizing the populations of cities in the family atlas. She skipped at least one grade in school, and graduated from Cal Berkeley with a degree in chemistry. A keen competitor (even when she played Go Fish with her 2-year-old grandson, she played to win) Joanne relished every kind of puzzle and game—crosswords, Sudoku, bridge, jigsaws, you name it. She could solve the Rubik’s cube in minutes.

Although she never used her chemistry degree, Joanne worked part time in the winter as a tax preparer, back in the days before pocket calculators. It was a perfect job because it allowed her to follow her true passion: playing golf as much as possible.

Joanne won dozens of club championships and tournaments over the years, filling her house with silverware and prizes. One of her proudest moments was getting her picture in the Sports Illustrated magazine on September 15, 1975, for getting three holes in one less than a month! The day before she died, still as sharp as ever, she (when asked) could recount all the nine holes-in-one she ever had. George, she noted with a smug chuckle, only had one.

She was a champ, and will always remain a champ in the hearts of her family and friends.