Beverly “Joann” Garrott

Beverly “Joann” Garrott, age 92, died peacefully on January 26, 2022 at Capitol Hill Senior Living in Salt Lake City, UT. Joann made friends wherever she went. Her good-natured, gentle spirit was loved by many.

A self-described “child of the Great Depression,” Beverly Joann Capesius was born on June 4, 1929 in Des Moines, Iowa to Francis Xavier Capesius and Arvetta Mae (Smith) Capesius. She attended Theodore Roosevelt High School (’47), University of Northern Iowa (‘51) and Iowa State University. She taught home economics in Newton, IA, Chicago Heights, Park Ridge, and Highwood, IL. She was also a “Lecturer on fashions” for McCall’s pattern company in the mid-1960s.

Joann married Jesse Jean Garrott on July 2, 1960, making their home near Chicago in Northbrook, IL. They raised two children, Hugh and Luke. Joann was a loving wife and mother, who supported her sons’ and husband’s activities with patience and enthusiasm. She passed to her two boys many of the skills she taught in the home economics classroom.  

Joann also managed to develop interests and pastimes uniquely her own. She attended an Episcopal church wherever she lived. Upon retirement from teaching in 1989, she completed her Master Gardener certification and volunteered at the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe, IL. Sewing clothing was a necessary skill in her earlier years; it became a source of creativity and joy once she retired from teaching and moved to Tennessee.

In 1992 Joann and Jess retired to Maryville, TN where she spent 25 years with new friends engaged in favorite hobbies – quilting at the top - including much travel with Jess in their motorhome. She moved to Salt Lake City, UT in 2017 to be closer to family in her last years, which were marked by vascular dementia.  

Joann is survived by her sons Hugh Garrott (Autumn Haworth) of Lemitar, NM and Luke Garrott (Angela Parkinson) of Chicago, IL and Salt Lake City, UT; grandsons Kai Garrott (Ellen Liu) and Oliver Garrott, both of Albuquerque, NM; cousin Ann Blusys of Omaha, NE; and nieces and nephew Peggy Charron (Dan), Kathy Hays, Sally Bryan (Clint) and Daniel Hays (Amanda).  

She was preceded in death by her two siblings, Caroline Hays Ostertag (Richard, then Horst) and Frank Edward Capesius (Joy, then Joan) and her niece Linda Miranda (Jorge).

A celebration & memorial and burial of ashes will be held on Saturday June 4 - Joann’s birthday - at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville, TN.

Memorial donations are welcomed in Joann’s name to the charity of your choice.