Jo Ella Shearman Lawton

Jo Ella Lawton Obituary

Jo Ella (Shearman) Lawton, 90, retired her beautiful smile and caregiving soul. She was walked peacefully home into the eternal peace of the Lord from her Sun Lakes, AZ, apartment on April 28, 2026. Jo was a woman of boundless love, kindness, creativity, faith, and a champion greeting card giver. And her sister Joy provided the greatest angelic caregiving and medical advocacy during Jo’s last year on Earth.

Jo Ella’s loving eyes and beautiful smile entered this world in July 1935. She was the youngest of three daughters born to John and Ethel (Hampton) Shearman. She cherished her farm youth: “fresh air, new mown hay, all the pets you want, sleeping outside with the cats and dog, privacy when you want it, and the best heritage a girl could ask for.” Her childhood was filled with tough work. She tried to avoid hen-pecked hands during egg gathering, tended huge gardens, canned, and hauled water buckets to the farmhouse that lacked plumbing and electricity until sixth grade. The outhouse was real!!!!

The importance of family and caregiving became real passions early in life. The war years and farm life were stressful. Yet, her parents made time for family fun: Saturday nights on the Jefferson square, Sunday car rides, and popcorn/game nights. Jo Ella loved playing dolls and riding trikes, plus some mischievous play with her sisters and rural neighbor kids. Such shenanigans included climbing the 65-foot farm windmill at age three and painting daddy’s pristine red tractor with old black grease at age four. She quickly learned that actions have consequences. Later, she applied this lesson to her four boys, who were always full of roughhousing and shenanigans!

More adventures came when she was sent off at age five to a rural one-room schoolhouse. One early lesson she often shared was how putting wet mittens on a hot stove to dry almost burned the school down. She and her friends ran outside, alerted a passing farmer, and he stopped with water to save the day. Jo Ella was well on her way developing material that she lovingly crafted into award-winning poetry, creative writing, and speaking engagements.

She moved to Jefferson public schools from sixth through twelfth grade. Her high school years were filled with award-winning state baton twirling, marching band, and acting in musicals. Jo Ella became a published poet, was on homecoming courts, and learned valuable personal growth and leadership skills. She gained these through many county and state 4-H and Rainbow activities.

A friend to everyone, Jo Ella began caregiving at age seven. She helped the neighbors, the Lawtons, care for two younger children after their mother died of cancer. Little did she know that their oldest son, Bill, would ask for her hand in marriage a decade later, which would last for 65 years until he passed away.

Upon graduation from Jefferson High, she married Bill Lawton in the fall of 1953. They farmed near Jefferson for 45 years and raised four sons. She wrote of the joys and challenges of motherhood on the farm. Who knew she solved the ‘terrible two’ temper tantrums of her firstborn! She wrote, “It only took three times of doctor-advised cold water to the face to cure tantrums. It may sound harsh, but it worked on all the kids!”

Farm life was a roller coaster—livestock, pet care, and 4-H project pride brought joy, while drought years and the 1980’s farm crisis brought pain. Fortunately, her love of cooking/baking (famous Christmas candy and German chocolate cake), her devotion to grandkids and their sports, and lifelong ISU Cyclone fandom (Bill and all four sons attended Iowa State) provided therapy and fun. Even in Arizona, she texted her boys during Cyclone games with great pride and spirit—along with advice for the poor refs!

Her strong faith played a vital role throughout her life. Jo Ella was an active member of the rural Greenbrier United Methodist Church for 45 years, then of the Sun Lakes, AZ, United Methodist Church. She also enjoyed online services from her firstborn grandson’s Pennsylvania church.

Her heart of community service naturally expressed her Christian faith. Jo Ella was active in many local groups: United Methodist Women, Church Board, Philemon Club, Bridge Club, Pink Lady at the local hospital, 4-H County Youth Committee, County Porkettes, and Cancer Society. After her boys left home, she worked part-time at a local dress shop. Later, she worked full-time at the Farm Bureau office until retiring to Sun Lakes, AZ, in 1997.

Retirement years in Sun Lakes were filled with wonderful sisterhood (both Joy and Jackie lived there) and city life adaptation. Jo’s loving and caring personality made her many great friends during 29 years in the valley. But her biggest thrills were visits from her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. The latest was last summer, when almost 50 came to celebrate her 90th and her sister Joy’s 95th birthdays.

The final seven years after her husband Bill passed were the toughest. Her sisters and great assisted-living friends truly helped. Yet, no one could cure her often-teased obsession with stocking cupboard and pantry shelves as if all stores were closing tomorrow! Jo’s luncheon group of ladies, sister shopping and dining outings, playing cards, bingo, creative writing, and family FaceTimes filled her days. Her signature lifelong gesture was sending beautiful greeting cards and heartfelt poems filled with words of encouragement to loved ones. She never missed an occasion to write what mattered to each person.

Jo Ella kept her health until a fall and kidney disease took a toll. Thanks to the amazing, loving help of sister Joy and the assisted-living and hospice caregivers, she was able to pass peacefully in her apartment.

Jo was preceded in death by her parents, Ethel and John, husband Bill Lawton, and her sister Jackie. She is survived by her sister Joy, and her children Craig (Alexandra), Kurt (Shelli), Tom (Cae), and Rob (Cesar). Grandchildren: Seth (Carol), Brad (Jacalyn), Nick, Monica (Roni), Matt (Michelle), Tanner (Amber), Tiffany (Wade), and Trevor (Savanah). Great-grandchildren: Lily, Ella, Tate, Harper, Hudson, Marcus, Wilson, Layla, and Letti.

The family is planning a July gathering in Iowa to celebrate her life, where she was born and raised. A private interment in Jefferson Cemetery will follow. Sister Joy hosted a beautiful storytelling and memory-sharing time for Jo Ella at her assisted-living chapel in Sun Lakes, AZ, on May 6, 2026.

To honor Jo Ella’s life, her family invites you to make something beautiful and give it to someone: a card, a letter, a dessert, a photograph, a posture of wholehearted attention. To do so is to embody Jo Ella’s memory and carry her love forward.

If you’d like to donate, the family suggests designating “Greene County 4-H” online with the Iowa 4-H Foundation page.