Gorgeous and hilarious, loud and beautiful, Joanna Elizabeth Ham (née Price), cleverly died in her sleep, exactly as she would’ve wanted, in Syracuse, N.Y., on March 26, 2023.
Born to RAF Catalina pilot John Thomas Price and ICI draftswoman Joan Price (née Drinkwater) in Chester, England, on Nov. 26, 1946, Joanna grew up in Northwich and Sandiway, Cheshire. She attended The Grange School, Hartford and Chester’s Ursuline Convent, where she annoyed the nuns by being stubbornly left-handed.
In 1964, just as she was finishing school, her sister was born. Joanna chose the name Jane for her and she herself became “GoGo” — protecter, life-saver, wild pig chaser, book-explainer, teacher and lifelong second mummy to an ever-adoring baby sister.
Joanna attended Queen Mary College, London University — where she read English literature and played Abigail in “The Crucible.”
Joanna met Richard John Ham while she was attending a party that was being held behind Richard’s house. Richard, who was not invited to the party, saw Joanna, the love of his life, jumped the fence and the rest is history. Just like Harry and Sally, Morecombe and Wise and Frank Spencer and Betty, they were a double act made for life. Joanna married Richard, a curly haired, piano-playing medical student, also from Chester, in December 1968.
Their first child, Jason John, was born in the Isle of Wight in 1971. Richard was working in the island’s hospitals while Joanna taught sixth form English. Despite their lifelong love for the Isle of Wight and happy years at Dormers in Cowes and The White House in Brading, they moved to the United States in 1977.
In Springfield, Ill., twins Zoe and Gabriel were born in December 1979. Richard’s career as a geriatrician took them to Tampa, Fla., Vancouver, Canada, Syracuse, N.Y. and Morgantown, with Joanna creating stylish homes filled with books, music, conversation and color. With Richard’s piano, Jason’s cars, Zoe’s cello and Gabe’s punk garage bands, the Ham home was never a quiet one.
Few things gave Joanna more joy in life than Richard’s many minor mishaps … trapping his foot in a wastepaper bin, tripping and pushing his head though a wicker chair or famously choking on a fly during an Appalachian bush walk, his every accident sent her into peals of raucous laughter. It wasn’t her fault, she would always say, it was a character flaw inherited from her mother.
A tiny snapshot of a remarkable character … her encyclopedic knowledge of Graham Greene and Henry James, but love of rereading Agatha Christie. Menthol cigarettes (“they don’t count”). Long dark curls, fuchsia pink lips, huge brown eyes. Dinner at midnight — never a lark; always a night owl. The best organized campervan in the U.S., pulling in to the campsite at 1 a.m. Karaking on her lake. Zebedee and Zelda the budgies. The only person wearing a velvet pantsuit on the beach. Sunflower plates, peacock cushions and rhododendrons. Chico the dog and then Chico the cat. …
Joanna leaves the world a far less colorful and much quieter place for Richard, Jason, Zoe and Dan, Gabriel and Shana and her grandchildren — and for Jane with Izzy, Emma and Johnny in Sydney, Australia.
Condolences:
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