Mary Jo Spohn was born on February 14, 1943. Valentine’s Day was such a fitting day for her birth. She was so full of love and compassion for everyone she came across throughout her life. She grew up in Monroe, Wisconsin, to parents Alfred and LaVerna Henning. She was the oldest of two siblings, John Henning and Ann (Henning) Hudson. She was a great big sister and provided them with tremendous support throughout her life. When her parents died, she kept her family connected.

Mary Jo was destined for greater things then Monroe could offer. She moved to Chicago, IL, to attend nursing school. What a perfect profession for her. She was truly born to be a nurse. She was so caring with her patients and with her colleagues. Her sense of humor helped carry her patients and fellow nurses through normal and challenging times.

In Denver, Mary Jo met the love of her life Bob Spohn. The two spent 52 years of marriage together. Throughout their marriage, they held true to their vows and had an unending love, compassion and respect for each other. They found strength in each other through the good and bad times. She used her heart and humor to carry them through it all. They had two children, Michael Spohn and Shannon (Spohn) Smith. When their children got married, she considered Michael’s wife, Chelsea Spohn, and Shannon’s husband, Jeff Smith, her own children. She welcomed them with open arms into our family.

She was such an amazing mother. She taught her children compassion, heart and strength. Her best role was Grandma Jo or Jo Jo as she was affectionately called by her grandkids, Morgan Spohn, Michael Ty Spohn, Lauron Smith and McKenzie Smith. She never missed a game, a function or spending time with grandkids. She always made the time with them fun, exciting and about them.

Mary Jo was extremely generous person. She was always very giving to anyone or anything in need. She was extremely loyal to friends. Even though there were miles between them, she always found ways to stay connected with them. She also had a strong love for animals. She was always finding ways to help stray or mistreated animals. She cared very deeply for all the animals she had throughout her life.

She was the heart and the soul of our family. No matter how busy the family got, she was the one that kept us informed about everyone’s whereabouts and made sure everyone was doing well. She kept our family connected.

Mary Jo died April 17, 2020. Her love and strength will always be with us because she is forever in our hearts.