JoAnn Adair Wright, 82 of Mauston, died on Wednesday, March 28. The daughter of John and Dorothy (Champney) White was born on January 2, 1930 in New Lisbon. JoAnn attended elementary and high school in New Lisbon. Her family moved to California in 1945, where her father and brother were stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Vallejo. She returned to New Lisbon and graduated from high school in 1948. She attended Juneau County Normal where she received her teaching certificate in 1950 and then attended the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She taught elementary and country school in Horicon and Friendship, Wisconsin.

She married Lawrence Wright on September 1, 1956 and the couple made their home on a farm in Mauston. JoAnn was a great cook, loved to sing, play her clarinet and piano and write poetry. In her Juneau County Normal “Class Will” she left her ability to sing so beautifully to another who didn’t have that ability. JoAnn received numerous awards for her poetry and several of them were published. She was a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

Survivors include her husband Larry Wright of Mauston, children, Tom (Roberta) of Mauston, Diane (Bob) of Madison; grandchildren, Andrew and James Hamm; brother Jack (Barbara) of New Braunfels, Texas; sister-in-law, Irmgarde Drier of Onalaska; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Dorothy White, stepmother, Lena Sullivan White, brother Robert White and step-sister Maureen Sullivan Sadler.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, April 2, 2012 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Mauston. Burial will be at the Mauston Cemetery. Friends may call at the Crandall Funeral Home, Mauston on Sunday, April 1st from 4:00-7:00 p.m.