JoAnn Brown, 68, died April 11, 2016, at Schowalter Villa in Hesston, Kansas. She was born September 3, 1947, the daughter of Adolph and Mary (Demel) Gerritzen.

JoAnn graduated from Hoisington High School in 1965.

She married Lloyd Brown on October 12, 1996, in Newton. He died March 21, 2004.

JoAnn was a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Newton, Kansas, as well as a member of the V. F. W. Auxiliary of Newton.

She is survived by a sister, Evelyn Hammerschmidt, and a brother, Robert Gerritzen and wife Erma, all of Hoisington, a sister, Theresa Gerritzen of Hays, four nieces, Angela Oberle, Rosemary Saunders, Patricia Droste, and Wendy Carpenter; and two nephews, Mike Spainhoward and Matt Gerritzen; and three great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd Brown, parents, Adolph and Mary Gerritzen, a sister, Mary Kaiser, a brother Jerome Gerritzen, and a nephew William Gerritzen.

Rosary will be 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, 2016, at Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Hoisington, celebrated by Father Louis Trung Dinh Hoang. Burial will follow in St. John the Evangelist Cemetery. Friends may call 2 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Kans for Kids or the Clara Barton Hospital Foundation in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544.