JoAnn M. Burns

JoAnn Marie Burns, 83, of Eagle, Idaho, passed peacefully on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 after a relatively short battle with cancer.

JoAnn was born on November 1, 1941 in St. Paul, Minnesota to parents Leona Witte and Francis McDonough. She spent her early life in Minnesota before her family moved to the Bay area looking for work during the World War II war effort.

She loved to tell stories of growing up in Mill Valley and San Francisco, where she and her sister Marilee shared many adventures, including finding arrowheads in their yard, attending Mercy High School together, and working at the Market and Powell Woolworth’s.

While employed at a medical lab in San Francisco, JoAnn met a handsome medical student from Vermont. She and Dr. John B. Burns were married in San Francisco in July of 1962. John’s career in the Air Force took them all over the country, including Mountain Home, Idaho; Denver, Colorado; Medical Lake, Washington; Anchorage, Alaska; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Columbia, South Carolina. They returned to the Treasure Valley in 1989.

During those Air Force years, JoAnn had two sons in quick succession and had a third (more agreeable) son ten years later. She also became a Licensed Practical Nurse and pursued a nursing career. JoAnn spent a great deal of time in Aglow, Marriage Encounter, and numerous Bible study groups and apostolates, as well as serving her community and traveling on missions.

JoAnn had a great heart for and ongoing communion with the Lord. She was also unfailingly kind to all she met, and liked nothing more than to engage in conversations with friends, families, and acquaintances.

JoAnn is survived by her three sons, Timothy Edward Burns, William David Burns, and Patrick Anthony Burns; her daughters-in-law Gina Burns and Emily Miller Burns; her grandchildren Jaron Bass and Kellina Burns Breakfield; and their mother Dené Breakfield. JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents, her brother John Francis McDonough, sister Marilee McDonough, and her husband Dr. John B. Burns.

A service will be held at Holy Apostles Catholic Church on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 with a rosary at 1:00 pm, a visitation beginning at 1:30 pm, and a funeral at 2:00 pm. A private internment will be held at a later date. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Spirit of the World Mission International in El Paso, Texas.