Obituary of Jo Ann Rawls Broadaway

Jo Ann Rawls Broadaway: mother, artist, teacher, world traveler, nature lover and nurturer of all things living, died peacefully, surrounded by family, on April 24, 2016. Jo Ann was the original girl-next-door who continually challenged herself and those close to her to pursue their dreams through education, travel and experimentation. There was nothing she couldn't do from being a drum major in college, to designing costumes from scratch, to acting in musicals, to whipping up creative cupcakes and painting old masters. Jo Ann grew up in Crossett, Arkansas, and later graduated from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas where she met her husband of over 50 years, Dick "Silo" Broadaway. She taught school for over 30 years to students from 1st to 12th grade and later received her master's in education from Centenary College. The Broadaway family enjoyed living in Europe and traveling extensively. JoAnn spoke fluent Spanish and when the family moved to Spain, she managed to corral five children while temporarily living in a hotel in downtown Madrid and later when they moved to a home in Canillejas, Spain. Later, she lived in various cities throughout Germany and traveled to virtually every country in Western and Eastern Europe, Great Britain, Russia and Qatar. She had a love affair with life. JoAnn lived in the half-full mode and she never met an animal or bird or fish that she couldn't nurse back to health: including birthing baby calves, saving puppies from a snake bite, and feeding little birds with an eyedropper. We may have lost a few here and there - but there were heroic efforts put forth before we finally succumbed to a special ceremony for sending them off to heaven. A lotta little crosses in our back yard. While her children were growing up, she became the "den" mom to ALL the neighborhood kids. Everyone wanted to go to Ms. B's. She would whip up some delicious cheese dip or bake her signature barbeque chicken - only problem was - it never made it out of the kitchen. Besides the 5 children of her own, there were always lots of "strays" in the Broadaway home. Talk about buying in bulk - and speaking of Mexican food, when Pancho's had their tacos on sale, JoAnn would buy dozens! What a treat that was! …but those poor servers at Pancho's hated to see the family station wagon pulling up outside. Jo Ann's smile was contagious. She laughed and teased and had a great sense of humor. As one of her past students said, "Your mother was always such a dear -- with that mischievous humor. Deadpan delivery, making me think she was the coolest teacher. Plus, as an aspiring artist she made classes so fun." No words can describe the values, joy and love that Jo Ann gave to her family, friends, students and acquaintances during her lifetime. We are all thankful for having had the opportunity to have known her and to have shared in the boundless love she so selflessly provided every day of her life. In lieu of Flowers, memorial donations may be made by mail to the National Parkinson Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131, or online at http://www3.parkinson.org/goto/Joannbroadaway and select DONATE and use the recipient email: labroadaway@gmail.com (Ann Broadaway). Services to honor Jo Ann will be held at 11:00 am, April 28, 2016, at Haughton United Methodist Church, 215 E. McKinley Ave, Haughton, LA 71037.