JoAnn Hassett

JoAnn Hassett passed away peacefully November 15, 2013. She was 83. Born JoAnn Houston in Delevan, KS, she moved with her family to Houston, TX when she was four years old. They lived in the Houston Heights, and JoAnn grew up in St. Marks United Methodist Church. After graduating from Jeff Davis High School, she attended the University of Houston where she met David C. Flowers. They married in 1950, and she worked while he finished a degree. She returned to school, but was interrupted by the births of her daughters, Kay Ann and Karen Denise. She graduated with a BA and a teaching certificate in social sciences. She later earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston. She taught for over 30 years, 29 of which were spent teaching in the Houston Independent School District. Most of her career was spent teaching government and economics, and she took several student groups to Washington, D.C. as part of the Close-Up program. She retired early so that she could take up quilting and gardening, and spend time traveling with her second husband, Thomas H. Hassett, Jr. They made many trips, and she was pleased that they had visited every continent except Antarctica. She moved to College Station, TX following Tom’s death. Most recently, she moved to Columbus, OH to be near her youngest daughter, Karen.
JoAnn loved to sing and she sang Soprano in the choirs of each church she attended: St. Marks United Methodist (Pecore Street) in Houston, First Methodist in College Station, and Northwest United Methodist in Columbus.
JoAnn Hassett was preceded in death by her parents, Sara M. and Glen E. Houston, and her husband Thomas Hassett, Jr. She is survived by her daughters Kay Ann Flowers, Karen Denise (Flowers) Stephens (husband Denny), sister Billie Jean Batson (husband Cleve), nephew Bryan Batson, step-daughters Debbie Hart (husband Tim) and Diane Hassett, and various cousins and step-grandchildren.
Services will be held in Houston at Heights Funeral Home. She will be interred next to Tom in Forest Park Cemetery in Houston. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to the music program at any of the churches she attended.