Joanna Paulette Zipperian

Our beloved Joanna Zipperian passed away unexpectedly on Monday, October 28th, 2024 near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Joanna Paulette Zipperian was born February 21st, 1940 in Great Falls, Montana to parents H. Agnes Steiner and Edmund Paul Zipperian. She was the oldest of three children. Joanna graduated in 1958 from Helena Senior High School in Helena, Montana, and then attended Carroll College, also in Helena. She graduated in 1962 with a BA in Mathematics. As she worked towards her Bachelor's degree in Mathematics, she also worked part-time at the Western Life Insurance Company. After graduation, Joanna moved to St Paul, Minnesota to work for Saint Paul Fire and Marine. She worked for The St. Paul Companies for over 30 years. The majority of her career was spent as a computer programmer and systems management software developer. In 2001, Joanna moved to Albuquerque, NM along with her mother Agnes and sister Elaine. For several years, she worked on programming for the State of New Mexico's Medicaid department, before retiring.

In high school and in her early twenties, Joanna was heavily involved in the Girl Scouts of America. Joanna was also involved for many years with Soroptimist International, in Albuquerque. In her professional career, Joanna was always interested in professional development and in opportunities for the advancement of women. Outside of these many service opportunities and professional accomplishments, Joanna enjoyed foreign travel, and was interested in many different disciplines of art.

Joanna lived a full life, always interested in those around her and always following her interests, both creative and professional. Joanna and Elaine have lived near each other or together since childhood. They worked together to maintain their homes and provide a lovely place for visitors to stay. They spent time on relationships with their cousins, aunts, and uncles. They worked together to show love and devotion to their nieces, providing them with extra grandmas as they grew up. Joanna's nieces, grandnieces, and grandnephews were always noticed by her and knew that she loved and cared for them. Joanna always had small dogs that she was very devoted to as well. Her insights, observances, sense of humor and kind presence will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Joanna was preceded in death by her father, Edmund, in 1978 and by her mother, Agnes, in 2013. She is survived by her sister, Elaine C. Zipperian (Rio Rancho, NM), and her brother and sister-in-law, Thomas E. and Bobbie L. Zipperian (Edgewood, NM). She is also survived by and will be missed by her three nieces and nine grandnieces and grandnephews - Megan Zipperian (Edgewood, NM), Abbey (Ben) Wiltbank (Kyndal, Devin, and Mason) (San Tan Valley, AZ), and Heidi (Andrew) Harvey (Ryan, Sophie, Adelaide, Liam, Stephen, and Quinn) (Albuquerque, NM). Many cousins and their children treasure memories of Joanna as well.