Joan “Joanie” Marie Berry Hansen, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and cherished friend, passed away surrounded by family, as a spectacular sunrise filled the sky on July 15th, 2026 in Seattle, Washington.

Born in Colfax, WA on March 30, 1957 to Kenneth and Nancy Berry, the fourth of five children, Joanie spent her childhood roaming wheat fields, playing on the farm, and making trouble with her brother and sisters. She spent summers with her family at Priest Lake, Idaho where she met her future husband, Vernon Layne Hansen, after high school. They fell in love and were married December 11, 1975 in Logan, Utah, and raised their two beautiful and beloved children at Pend Oreille Lake, Priest Lake and Lewiston, Idaho as well as Colfax, Washington. She went back to school and finished her degree at Lewis-Clark State College and Eastern Washington University, becoming a teacher. She specialized in small, multi-grade classrooms, beginning in Duckwater, NV before spending the last 27 years of her career in Index, WA. Joanie poured her heart into the tight-knit community where she taught, maintaining the school library, heading up field days, field trips, Youth Author’s Conferences, and trips to camp for her students. She also created the Probability Fair—an educational event that taught statistics and math concepts through games for the school and community alike.

A full accounting of Joanie is impossible—she was wry, effervescent, passionate, generous, and loving. She loved nature, hunting, fishing, hiking, cycling, reading, stories, games, and costumes, which she found any excuse to wear. She loved watching the Seahawks almost as much as she loved watching her grandchildren as they excelled in their sports and hobbies. She loved wordplay, finding immeasurable joy in being a word weirdo, and was a ferocious advocate for literacy and access to books. She was endlessly inventive, gleaning art supplies from every avenue imaginable and finding humor in anything. She sought adventure amidst her loved ones and on her own. Her heart belonged out on the water, book and coffee mug in hand, enjoying the sun and the quiet companionship of her friends and family.

She was preceded in death by her treasured husband, Vernon Layne Hansen, in 2010. She is survived by her children Brooke Thompson (Josh) and Nathan Hansen (Katie Lewis); her grandchildren, Noah Earl Thompson, Tayvin Nathaniel Thompson, and Maisie Layne Hansen; her siblings, Jan Varnes (Wayne), Kenneth Jay Berry, Jr. (MaryBeth), Joy Boettcher (Dirk), and Jeana Obom (Robb) as well as eleven nephews and nieces. There will be a graveside service at the Colfax Cemetery on August 21, 2026 at 11:00 am and a celebration of life gathering at 1:00 pm at the Colfax Golf & Country Club in Colfax. An additional celebration of life will be held next summer in Seattle, date and location to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the North Cascades Institute, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and the Sno-Isle Library Foundation.