JoAnne Dorothy Best

JoAnne Dorothy Best, 87, of Greer passed away Tuesday January 12th.

She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Burton Best, and her four children, Jim Best, wife Yaant of Seattle WA, Kathy Best of Greer, Don Best, wife Suzanne from Maine, and Holly Diaz, husband Rosny of Greer. She is also survived by her sister Sandy Bowie of Maine and many grandchildren and great-grands.

JoAnne and Burt grew up together in the small town of Cumberland, Maine. She graduated valedictorian, but often laughed about it because there were only 12 students in her class.

She worked for the railroad, but then found her place as an executive assistant at IBM, retiring after 35 years.

Burt and JoAnne moved to Florida in the mid-1980s to escape the cold winters. In New Smyrna Beach, she began her volunteering career. She volunteered as a victim's advocate for the police, often getting called out in the middle of the night to console scared children or other victims until the proper authorities could arrive. She also volunteered at the Halifax hospital there.

They loved taking cruises, traveling to many countries and meeting many new friends.

They moved to Greer in 2005 to be close to their youngest grandchildren and daughter. They were indispensable helping the young family, shuttling Travis, Jason and Nikolai Diaz to games and school events.

Here, through their neighbor Randy Kemp, they found their volunteer home at Greer Community Ministries, where they spent five days a week working in the food pantry portion of the many services offered there. They spent close to 10 years there, loved the people and the help provided to the community, until dementia made it impossible for her to continue. They did Meals on Wheels runs, and she also volunteered at the Greer hospital in the ER.

They were members of the Memorial United Methodist Church, and a part of the Young at Heart group until dementia also took that from her.

She was a strong, compassionate woman and dearly loved by her family and friends.

The family will hold a memorial service in Maine later in the year when hopefully most people will be vaccinated.

If you wish to offer condolences, the family asks that you donate non-perishable food to the Greer Community Ministries food pantry or a food bank near you.

Lindquist Funeral Home in Yarmouth, Maine will be handling the services.