Joanne Marie Skonnard Hellberg

Joanne Marie Skonnard was born on Sept. 7, 1942, less than one year after Pearl Harbor, to Elsie Anderson Skonnard and John Bernard Skonnard in Portland, Ore. She was a baptized Christian and member of Peace Lutheran Church in Astoria, Ore. Joanne died on the morning of April 11, 2015.

Joanne attended public schools in Portland at Woodstock Grade School, and graduated from Franklin High School in 1960. She went on to attend Oregon College of Education, enrolling in an honors program and graduating with a bachelor’s of science in education in 1964. Her first teaching position was at Vose School in Beaverton, Ore., teaching fourth grade.

On Aug. 14, 1965, she married Karl Richard (Dick) Hellberg and moved to Astoria. She obtained a teaching position at Warrenton Elementary School and taught there for the next 31 years, except for one year that she taught at Olney Elementary School. Early in her teaching career she began a master’s program at Oregon College of Education in special education, and she graduated with a Master of Science in Education in 1974. She moved to Warrenton in the fall of 1971, and lived just two blocks from the school. She resided in the same home until May of 2014, when Alzheimer’s forced her to be taken to a care facility in Seaside, Ore.

Joanne dedicated her teaching career to helping students who had difficulty learning in a regular classroom. She was devoted to her students, and would often work long hours preparing lessons for the next day or filling out the everpresent forms required of the federal “Title-One” program she was responsible for administering. In addition to her career, she was a full-time wife and mother. She always made sure her two sons attended their many activities and that her husband had shoreside support for his commercial fishing ventures. She was happy to meet new people, quick to converse with others, and always willing to help those in need.

As a young girl growing up in Portland, her parents would send her to stay with her Aunt Ester and Uncle Royal and her cousins, Beverly and Dennis, in Cove, Ore. Her travels would take her by train from Portland to La Grande, past the then exposed Celilo Falls near The Dalles. These summer stays were her most repeated memories later in life. Additionally, she fondly remembered the few years she taught adult remedial reading at Clatsop Community College.

She was a reluctant traveler, but still made numerous trips across the country to attend parents’ weekends and two graduations for her sons at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. Particularly memorable was a trip to Japan over Christmas to watch her oldest son play football. Additionally, she made two trips across the U.S., by automobile, to visit her youngest son and his family at their duty stations in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Her sons, and later her grandchildren, were the pride of her life.

After she retired from teaching, she volunteered for the Clatsop County Courts as an educational surrogate and pursued her duties with a great sense of purpose and vigor. This period of her life also found her going to the gym or taking morning walks with her close friends, Jodie and Barbara. Additionally, she returned to playing golf, which her parents had encouraged her to do while growing up. She and her husband joined the Astoria Golf and Country Club, where Joanne played with the ladies groups on a regular basis. She also pursued tap dancing at the Maddox Dance Studio in Warrenton. She particularly enjoyed the annual spring performance at the Fine Arts Center in Astoria.

Joanne loved to write and was the author of poetry and short stories. She wrote and published a children’s book, “Thomas S. Tucker, Norwegian Mouse,” with the help of her illustrator and friend, Marilyn Floyd. She also authored “The Alv” (about a Scandinavian elf), and “Soltee’s Indian,” a mix of animated animals and local Indian lore (the last book has not been satisfactorily edited to her liking, as of yet). Joanne also had an avid interest in genealogy, and compiled the family’s history back to the 1400s in Norway for the Skonnard (Skonnord) line and 1700s in Sweden for the Hellberg line. She was a member of the Sons of Norway, and was active in the VASA Lodge, where she served as a chaperone for the Scandinavian Court.

Joanne was preceded in death by her parents, John and Elsie Skonnard, and Aunt Ester and Uncle Royal Borkgren. She is survived by her husband, Dick Hellberg, son Karl Hellberg, and son Jon Hellberg and wife Melissa; three grandchildren, Kristian, Madalyn, and Pauly, her brother, John Benjamin Skonnard and wife Jewel, her sister-in-law Katherine Hellberg, her cousins, Beverly Noble and Dennis Borkgren, plus numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held today, Tuesday, April 14, 2015, from 1-5 p.m. at Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary, 1165 Franklin Ave., Astoria.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 15, 2015, at 1 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church, 565 12th St., Astoria.

Following the funeral services, a graveside service will be held at Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton.

A reception will be held at Peace Lutheran Church following the graveside services.

Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Please sign our online guest book at www.caldwellsmortuary.com