Obituaries

JoAnn Konchalski Grathwohl

Cutchogue resident JoAnn Helen Konchalski Grathwohl passed away Oct. 29, 2012, in Riverhead, N.Y.

JoAnn was born April 26, 1940, in Northport, N.Y., to Joseph and Helen (Sokoloski) Konchalski. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard Warren Grathwohl, on May 10, 1958, in Cutchogue.

“Poochie,” as she was known to family and friends, graduated from Mattituck High School in 1958. She drove school buses in Cutchogue for many years. In 1969, she went to work as a matron at the Suffolk County jail. During her 25 years of service, she became one of the first women to rise to the rank of lieutenant in the Suffolk County Corrections Department. She retired in 1995. JoAnn was also past president of the Cutchogue Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.

JoAnn enjoyed traveling, visiting such places as Amsterdam, Australia, New Zealand and Poland. To celebrate their 50th anniversary, JoAnn and Richard cruised to Hawaii with their children and grandchildren. She also enjoyed keeping up with her classmates from Mattituck High School in their “Traveling Reunions.”

JoAnn and R.W. liked to spend time on their 50-acre farm in Virginia. Visiting the slot machines at Mohegan Sun was another of her favorite things.

JoAnn is survived by Richard, her husband of 54 years, and two daughters, Deborah (Ben) Summerhalder of Provo, Utah, and Theresa Edwards of Big Island, Va. She is also survived by two sisters, Sylvia (Edward) Rouse of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Jeanette (Barry) Cain of Flanders, N.Y. She will be missed by her five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, three nieces and one nephew.

A private service was held at Cutchogue Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes.

This is a paid notice.