Memorial Service for JoAnn Habenicht

JoAnn Habenicht, 80, of Buchanan, died Aug. 20, 2020, at Memorial Hospital in South Bend. She was the wife of Bill Habenicht, professor emeritus at Andrews University.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, at the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church (where she was a member) in Berrien Springs, Michigan, with Pastor Ron Kelly officiating. Memorial gifts can be sent to the JoAnn Habenicht Memorial Fund: www.gofundme.com/f/joann-habenicht-memorial-fund.

JoAnn was born Oct. 16, 1939, in Galion, Ohio, the daughter of Ivory and Marguarite (Klady) Schoonard. She married C. William Habenicht at the La Sierra College Church in California on June 30, 1960. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Loma Linda University. Her nursing career helped make it possible for her three children to graduate from Andrews University. In addition to her nursing career, she was a mission appointee to Puerto Rico for nine years, and she volunteered in children’s ministries by teaching Sabbath Schools and working in Pathfinders. She loved her family and stayed involved in their lives.

She is survived by her husband, Bill; son, David; daughters, Karen Sherwood and Kandy Habenicht; seven grandchildren: Maria Paz, Laura and Kelly Sherwood, Matthew, Nathan, and Ashlyn Habenicht, and Luke Norris; sister, Darlene Harris; and three brothers: Larry, Ron, and Ted Schoonard.