Sept. 29--Joanne S. Maurer brought a love of education and a strong Catholic faith to raising her family, which grew to eight children and 31 grandchildren.
Maurer also taught sixth grade for several years at St. Michael Parish School in Wheaton.
"She was just a lovely woman," said her sister-in-law, Betty Maurer. "She's probably the best person I know."
Maurer, 78, died of complications from bone cancer Aug. 26 at her home, said her son, Karl. She had been a resident of Wheaton for almost 50 years and had lived in Wheaton as a youngster as well.
Born Joanne Holmes in Chicago, Maurer moved with her father, who was a dentist, and her mother, who was a nurse, to Wheaton in 1945. She attended St. Michael and then graduated from Wheaton Community High School in 1955. During her senior year of high school, Maurer won a statewide Latin-language contest, which earned her a college scholarship.
Maurer attended Rosary College in River Forest -- now Dominican University -- where she earned an undergraduate degree with a double major in Latin and English. During the summers, she enjoyed performing and teaching water ballet, her sister-in-law said.
After graduating college in 1959, Maurer took a job teaching sixth grade at St. Michael. In 1960, she married her husband, Joseph.
With the birth of her son, Karl, Maurer resigned from her teaching career in 1961 to raise a family. She had seven more children. In 1962, she and her husband moved from Forest Park to Glen Ellyn.
Maurer's husband made an unsuccessful bid in 1964 for the GOP congressional nomination in the west suburban 14th District, losing to future U.S. Rep. John Erlenborn.
In 1966, Maurer and her family bought a converted farmhouse south of Wheaton College that once had been owned by the Fischer family, whose ancestor, Jonathan Blanchard, had been the college's first president. It was there where she raised the rest of her children -- and where she lived for the rest of her life.
"She dedicated every ounce of her energy and spirit to her children," Karl Maurer said. "Her main focus was her family and her children."
Maurer was proud that all of her children attended college. An avid reader, she enjoyed historical novels earlier in her life and counted Willa Cather among her favorite authors. Later in life, she favored spiritual reading.
"She was a walking encyclopedia of famous Catholic authors," Karl Maurer said.
Sheila Scott, a friend who knew Maurer since they were in third grade together, recalled Maurer's "sharp and discerning intellect," as well as her loyalty to friends who were going through hard times.
"She was always there caring, loving and supporting people," Scott said. "And she was such an abiding friend to me and everybody I know. Joanne every week found the time to make and bake things for people who were sick. She was just the most generous, giving person."
A devout Catholic, Maurer was a big believer in charity and humility, her son said.
"She embraced her responsibility to live her life in fidelity with what the God she loved asked her to do, which was to be humble and to be charitable," Karl Maurer said.
About 30 years ago, Maurer was diagnosed with bone cancer. It went into remission but returned six or seven years ago, her son said.
In addition to her son and husband, Maurer is survived by three daughters, Teresa Krone, Eleanor McCullough and Joan Bishop; four sons, Fredrick, John, Joseph Jr. and Nick; 31 grandchildren; a brother, George "Buddy" Holmes; and two sisters, Sally Thomas and Linda Morgan.
Services were held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
