JoAnne Evelyn Reichart

JoAnne Evelyn Reichart, passed away peacefully early Thursday morning, May 23, 2024, in the presence of family at Harmony at Hershey, a senior living community in Hershey, PA, at the age of 85. JoAnne was born on October 5, 1938, in Bloomsburg, PA, the first child of Gerard “Jerry” Leo Schneider and Evelyn Marcelle Sholly. JoAnne graduated from Scott Township high school in 1956 and from Penn State University in 1960 with a BS in Art and Art Activities. She married her high school sweetheart, Charles Edwin Reichart, on July 2, 1960, in Penn State’s Helen Eakin Eisenhower Chapel, and they enjoyed 59 years of marriage until Charles’ passing on October 11, 2019. Just out of college, JoAnne took her first art teaching job in the Milton school district for one year before the birth of her first child. After her third child was born, she returned to teaching art in the Central Columbia school district. The young couple lived in an apartment on West 4th Street in Bloomsburg through 1971. They and their children moved to a small farm on Rohrsburg Road in Orangeville, PA, that JoAnne christened, “Windswept Farm,” after 1972’s Hurricane Agnes tore the roof off the old barn. In January 2019, Charles and JoAnne downsized to Bailey Park in Benton, PA. JoAnne moved to Harmony at Hershey in February 2024. In 1972, JoAnne became a distributor for Shaklee Corporation, a direct sales nutrition and personal care business, growing her organization to more than 1000 distributors. For many years, it was a zealous but part-time effort while JoAnne taught in the public school system and later at the Red Rock Job Corps Center in Lopez, PA. In the late 1990’s, Charles joined JoAnne in the Shaklee business and it became their full-time job. They enjoyed continued growth and recognition with their Shaklee business, taking the entire family on sales award trips to San Francisco in 1976 and Austria in 1979. Through Shaklee, the couple also traveled to England, China, France, and across the US. JoAnne cultivated a love of literature, poetry, and art in her children through reading aloud, memorization, and paging through images of great art, and she was a faithful fan of the sports and performances of her children and grandchildren. JoAnne was an enthusiastic home entertainer, hosting family and friends for “nothing dinners,” birthday celebrations, and holiday gatherings. She enjoyed hand crafting beautiful cards, invitations, table decorations, and gifts. JoAnne was a volunteer and leader in the Columbia and Montour Christian Women’s Club, the Bloomsburg Hospital Auxiliary, and the Fishing Creek Herb Guild. JoAnne was a great berry picker! She braved the bear-infested thickets of Red Rock Mountain to harvest buckets of huckleberries, and she arrived at Carlson’s farm in the early morning with her children to pick tens of quarts of strawberries. Over the years, JoAnne and Charles attended Berwick Bible Church, Calvary Baptist Church, Emmanuel Bible Chapel, and Shiloh Bible Church. JoAnne is survived by a brother, Gerard “Jerry” Lee Schneider and wife Cynthia Rose (Eschevarria) Schneider of Silver Spring, MD; son Charles Todd Reichart and wife Bonnie Bassler of Princeton, NJ; daughter Holly Lynn Ray and husband Todd C. Ray of Hummelstown, PA; and son Christopher Drue Reichart of Incline Village, NV; as well as five grandchildren: Benjamin Ray and wife Leslie (Miller) Ray of Gettysburg, PA; Kristen (Ray) Jones and husband Brandon Jones of Phoenix, AZ; Chad Ray of Harrisburg, PA; Cal Reichart and Cade Reichart both of Ocean City, MD. The family is most grateful to the caregivers who assisted JoAnne in the last year of her life. Friends and family are invited to a celebration of JoAnne’s life at the Pine Barn Inn on Sunday, June 9 from noon through 4:00 p.m. with a remembrance service from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. followed by a meal and social. In lieu of flowers, please consider organizations that JoAnne supported: In Touch Ministries and WVIA TV/radio.

JoAnne Evelyn Reichart

October 5, 1938 - May 23, 2024