LACONIA ---- JoAnne Gauthier Whitticom moved onto Heaven from her home on Thursday, December 31, 2020.
JoAnne, the daughter of John E. and Katharine (Harriman) Gauthier, was born at Fort Rucker, Alabama on January 22, 1945.
At the end of World War II, her parents returned to Laconia, and JoAnne spent the rest of her life in the small town that her ancestors had helped to found.
She graduated from Laconia High School in 1962 and received a BA in English Literature from UNH in 1966.
JoAnne married Mark W. Whitticom on August 17, 1966; a marriage that was built on pure love and respect and will continue to flourish until the end of time. JoAnne and Mark will always be proud parents of Jessica Whitticom Dade and the most amazing grandparents to Katharine Ann Dade.
JoAnne was employed in her family’s businesses, Woodward’s Chrysler-Plymouth-GMC Truck and Laconia Leasing from 1967 until they were sold in 2001. After a brief period of being the best stay-at-home nanny, she worked for the Gaudet family’s dealer group, AutoServ, in an administrative capacity from 2004 until her last day on Earth. JoAnne will always be known for having a strong work ethic and drive for success. The Gaudet family are included in those that JoAnne holds as most beloved.
JoAnne was very involved in her community. She was a member of the Laconia Congregational Church for more than fifty years and served on the Worship Committee, the Pastor-Parish Committee, the Diaconate, the Chancel and Organ Renovation Committee, and the Board of Trustees.
In addition, she was the former Trustee and Chair of the Laconia Public Library Board of Trustees.
She served the Tilton School Parents and Past Parents Boards as well as the Long-term Planning Committee for that organization in the 1990’s.
JoAnne was very involved in the NH Auto Dealers Association for many years. She served on the Board of Directors and was the first woman to chair the board. She was also a director and former chair of the NHADA Services Board, the NHADA Education Foundation, and the NHADA Charitable Trust. In 1998, she was the first woman in New Hampshire to receive the coveted Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award, an annual honor bestowed on a franchised auto dealer who exhibits exceptional community involvement. She will always be a champion of gender equality and increased opportunity for women. She instilled a fierce spirit into her daughter and granddaughter that they intend to exhibit for the entirety of their lives.
Despite her involvement in outside organizations, JoAnne’s proudest moments are from watching her granddaughter race down mountains on skis, fly over oxers on horses, and race through the finish line on a bike, and her daughter making an impact on the world every day with the strength and grit that JoAnne taught her.
She has joined her beloved mother in Heaven and they are now the guardian angels of their entire family. She is being loved from Earth by the love of her life, her husband, Mark Whitticom, her pride and joy, her daughter, Jessica Whitticom Dade, her best friend, her granddaughter, Katharine Ann Dade, her dear father, John Gauthier, three nephews, as well as her champion pony that she shared many joyous moments with her granddaughter, National Treasure, her dog that made her smile endlessly, Miss Tilly of Old North, and her three granddogs that kept her house loud: Marsh, Baxter, and Logan.
There will be no calling hours.
A private funeral will be held at the Laconia Congregational Church
Burial will be held in the family plot at Union Cemetery, Laconia, NH.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in JoAnne's name to the Gould Fund at Gould Academy c/o The Advancement Office, PO Box 860, Bethel, ME 04217, where she drove every week on Wednesdays to visit her granddaughter and make amazing memories.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, Laconia, NH, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.