Jo Ann Mulcahy
1943-12-24 2023-04-15
JoAnn Porter Mulcahy
December 24, 1943 - April 15, 2023
Jo Ann P. Mulcahy passed away on April 15, 2023. She was born on December 24, 1943, at the US Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, to John and Kathleen Porter, as John awaited deployment as a US Navy Pilot in World War II. John and Kathleen would go on to have five more children: Jim (Liz) Porter, Patricia (Chauncey) Johnstone, Paula (Don) Patrick, Mary Lee, and Peggy Charles. Jo Ann spent her childhood in Iowa surrounded by a large and loving extended family. At 16, her family relocated to Ithaca, NY, where she graduated from Ithaca High School in 1962. Following high school, Jo Ann proudly graduated from the Genesee Hospital School of Nursing in 1965 and loved working as a labor and delivery nurse. Jo Ann and her former spouse, Pat, met while in high school and married in 1966. After Pat returned from military service in Vietnam in the late 1960’s, they moved to St. Louis and together raised their four children. Though their relationship transitioned, Jo Ann and Pat remained good friends and excellent parents, connected in their commitment to the well-being of their children.
In 1993, as her children grew into adulthood, Jo Ann began to fulfill many of her own dreams and passions. She returned to rural Iowa where she had experienced so much happiness as a child. Throughout her life she demonstrated her ambition and gumption to succeed in reaching her goals, and her move to Iowa was no different. There she cleared the land herself to build her home and with the help of family and friends, she collected and carried 54 truckloads of fieldstone to create a custom oversized fireplace. In addition, she opened a weaving studio in town and worked with neighbors planting and harvesting fields of test crops.
Jo Ann would eventually move on from Iowa, heading west to Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. She designed and built several houses and worked as a ranch hand on cattle drives. Her lifelong love of horses and Western-style riding were common threads through many of her adventures. As much as she enjoyed taking part in the fine arts, she also loved hard work like mucking out stalls. Jo Ann was an extraordinarily gifted artist and craftsperson. Throughout her lifetime, her artistry was displayed in her beautiful hand woven pieces. She was particularly gifted in spinning and weaving and was a member of multiple fiber and weavers' guilds. She was a skilled and talented seamstress and knitter, often making her own clothing and period pieces used in her living history reenactments. In addition to making her own clothing, she enjoyed making her children matching outfits, knitting baby sweaters for loved ones (affectionately nicknamed the “Mulcahy straightjacket”), and knitting hats to donate to hospitals.
Jo Ann made service, philanthropy and generosity a constant priority in her life. Those values were the underpinnings of most everything she did. She shared herself, her knowledge, and her enthusiasm in thousands of hours of volunteering. She was a room mother, a dedicated Girl Scout leader, and worked with Habitat for Humanity around the country, including being a founding member of the Habitat chapter in Boone, Iowa. She was an excellent teacher and could often be found participating in living history events demonstrating life in the 1800’s. Many summers, she spent time with the American Youth Foundation at Camp Miniwanca teaching the arts to hundreds of young people.
Jo Ann’s financial generosity also positively impacted multitudes of people in immeasurable ways, often done quietly behind the scenes. Jo Ann consistently faced obstacles head on, never allowing for them to stop her in reaching any goal. Especially later in life, she experienced many health setbacks. After suffering a severe leg break, she proceeded to join an archeological dig while wearing a boot cast and using crutches so as not to miss out. Due to macular degeneration her vision suffered greatly, but that did not alter her lifestyle. She was resourceful in helping herself continue to live a good life and continued on great adventures around the world. If anything, her various health challenges gave her the wisdom to know she needed to embrace life while she had the ability. One of Jo Ann’s greatest traits was her love of people. She always had room for one more at her table. She was happiest in a room full of family and friends. She loved telling stories and countless evenings were spent full of laughter. She was known amongst her siblings for being the authority on all family memories. Family was of utmost importance to her and was her #1 value, but she did not define family as only those she was related to by blood; there was no limit. Her warm, welcoming spirit and kind disposition made everyone feel like they were her family.
Jo Ann was preceded in death by her daughter Elizabeth Mulcahy Telthorst, her parents John and Kathleen Porter, her nephew Scott Porter and her brother-in-law Steve Charles. She is survived by her children, Michael (Lynn), Andrew (Molly), and Susan, her grandchildren Thatcher, Dalton, Sam, Allison, and Sean, her beloved siblings, many nieces and nephews on all sides of the family as well as innumerable friends whom she fiercely loved.
Services: A memorial will be held at Samuel United Church of Christ, 320 N. Forsyth Blvd., St. Louis, MO, 63105, on Friday, May 5, 2023, at 11 am, with a reception to follow. If you would like to attend virtually instead of in-person please contact the church directly. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo, WY, or the Samuel United Church of Christ Habitat for Humanity fund. As a service of the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, friends may sign the family's on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.
December 24, 1943 - April 15, 2023
Jo Ann P. Mulcahy passed away on April 15, 2023. She was born on December 24, 1943, at the US Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, to John and Kathleen Porter, as John awaited deployment as a US Navy Pilot in World War II. John and Kathleen would go on to have five more children: Jim (Liz) Porter, Patricia (Chauncey) Johnstone, Paula (Don) Patrick, Mary Lee, and Peggy Charles. Jo Ann spent her childhood in Iowa surrounded by a large and loving extended family. At 16, her family relocated to Ithaca, NY, where she graduated from Ithaca High School in 1962. Following high school, Jo Ann proudly graduated from the Genesee Hospital School of Nursing in 1965 and loved working as a labor and delivery nurse. Jo Ann and her former spouse, Pat, met while in high school and married in 1966. After Pat returned from military service in Vietnam in the late 1960’s, they moved to St. Louis and together raised their four children. Though their relationship transitioned, Jo Ann and Pat remained good friends and excellent parents, connected in their commitment to the well-being of their children.
In 1993, as her children grew into adulthood, Jo Ann began to fulfill many of her own dreams and passions. She returned to rural Iowa where she had experienced so much happiness as a child. Throughout her life she demonstrated her ambition and gumption to succeed in reaching her goals, and her move to Iowa was no different. There she cleared the land herself to build her home and with the help of family and friends, she collected and carried 54 truckloads of fieldstone to create a custom oversized fireplace. In addition, she opened a weaving studio in town and worked with neighbors planting and harvesting fields of test crops.
Jo Ann would eventually move on from Iowa, heading west to Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. She designed and built several houses and worked as a ranch hand on cattle drives. Her lifelong love of horses and Western-style riding were common threads through many of her adventures. As much as she enjoyed taking part in the fine arts, she also loved hard work like mucking out stalls. Jo Ann was an extraordinarily gifted artist and craftsperson. Throughout her lifetime, her artistry was displayed in her beautiful hand woven pieces. She was particularly gifted in spinning and weaving and was a member of multiple fiber and weavers' guilds. She was a skilled and talented seamstress and knitter, often making her own clothing and period pieces used in her living history reenactments. In addition to making her own clothing, she enjoyed making her children matching outfits, knitting baby sweaters for loved ones (affectionately nicknamed the “Mulcahy straightjacket”), and knitting hats to donate to hospitals.
Jo Ann made service, philanthropy and generosity a constant priority in her life. Those values were the underpinnings of most everything she did. She shared herself, her knowledge, and her enthusiasm in thousands of hours of volunteering. She was a room mother, a dedicated Girl Scout leader, and worked with Habitat for Humanity around the country, including being a founding member of the Habitat chapter in Boone, Iowa. She was an excellent teacher and could often be found participating in living history events demonstrating life in the 1800’s. Many summers, she spent time with the American Youth Foundation at Camp Miniwanca teaching the arts to hundreds of young people.
Jo Ann’s financial generosity also positively impacted multitudes of people in immeasurable ways, often done quietly behind the scenes. Jo Ann consistently faced obstacles head on, never allowing for them to stop her in reaching any goal. Especially later in life, she experienced many health setbacks. After suffering a severe leg break, she proceeded to join an archeological dig while wearing a boot cast and using crutches so as not to miss out. Due to macular degeneration her vision suffered greatly, but that did not alter her lifestyle. She was resourceful in helping herself continue to live a good life and continued on great adventures around the world. If anything, her various health challenges gave her the wisdom to know she needed to embrace life while she had the ability. One of Jo Ann’s greatest traits was her love of people. She always had room for one more at her table. She was happiest in a room full of family and friends. She loved telling stories and countless evenings were spent full of laughter. She was known amongst her siblings for being the authority on all family memories. Family was of utmost importance to her and was her #1 value, but she did not define family as only those she was related to by blood; there was no limit. Her warm, welcoming spirit and kind disposition made everyone feel like they were her family.
Jo Ann was preceded in death by her daughter Elizabeth Mulcahy Telthorst, her parents John and Kathleen Porter, her nephew Scott Porter and her brother-in-law Steve Charles. She is survived by her children, Michael (Lynn), Andrew (Molly), and Susan, her grandchildren Thatcher, Dalton, Sam, Allison, and Sean, her beloved siblings, many nieces and nephews on all sides of the family as well as innumerable friends whom she fiercely loved.
Services: A memorial will be held at Samuel United Church of Christ, 320 N. Forsyth Blvd., St. Louis, MO, 63105, on Friday, May 5, 2023, at 11 am, with a reception to follow. If you would like to attend virtually instead of in-person please contact the church directly. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo, WY, or the Samuel United Church of Christ Habitat for Humanity fund. As a service of the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, friends may sign the family's on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.