Jo Fien

A Celebration of Life for Jo Fien

Saturday, November 23rd 9am-12pm

Open House Gathering

Taprock Evergreen Room

971 SE 6th St., Grants Pass

Javerne “Jo” Eva Fien, 80, of Grants Pass passed away Saturday, November 9th, 2019 of natural causes.

Jo was born October 17th, 1939 in Glendale, California to Ralph and Eve Maxhimer. By 1956, her family had moved to Radford St. in North Hollywood where she became neighbors with her future husband Tim.

On January 4th, 1957 she married Tim Fien, who passed away in 2013. They moved to Panorama City, California where she was a stay at home mom to her three children. In 1968 Tim was transferred to Grants Pass for his work as a PBX installer for Pacific Northwest Bell and together they purchased 40 acres in Rogue River to raise their family. They built their home from the ground up and raised sheep, horses, chickens, and rabbits so the family could be involved in 4-H and experience life on a farm. They moved back to Grants Pass in 1981 to be closer to family and this is where Jo lived out the rest of her life.

Throughout her life Jo was involved in a variety of activities that took her all over Southern Oregon. During her time in Rogue River she was involved in the Chieftain Chanters Booster Club supporting her kids while they attended the Rogue River School District. She drove a school bus for this same district for 15 years until her kids graduated from high school when she then retired from this career. She enjoyed her time as a bus driver and watching all of her “kids” grow up before her eyes. She also enjoyed the annual Rooster Crow in Rogue River and would go to this event every year that she could.

While her own kids were growing up she also enjoyed many outdoor activities that they did as a family. They enjoyed water skiing and playing at Lake Shasta on a houseboat. They would visit Southern California where family still remained and spend hours at the ocean and the beaches. The family also spent many hours at Savage Rapids Dam and Lost Creek learning how to ski and spending time together as a family in the orange jet boat that Jo loved to drive fast.

Once she moved to Grants Pass she started some additional activities that brought her joy. She began toll painting and flower arranging. She would always enter the miniature flower arrangements at the fair and would get so excited when she would win her ribbons. She picked up bowling and enjoyed her time on her bowling league with her friends. She loved to travel, particularly to Hawaii and Lake Tahoe. Together, Jo and Tim had over 30 trips to Hawaii in their lifetime as it was their favorite place to go. She loved to watch football and basketball, and if it was a team she loved she wouldn’t miss a game. She loved the sunshine and just sitting on her porch enjoying the view and soaking up the rays.

Aside from traveling she also loved to spend time with family. She especially loved all of her grandkids and great grandchildren. She would love to just be a part of things and sit and watch the

chaos unfold. As she was watching, she would always be holding the other thing she loved so dearly, her four legged baby Riggins. She would watch him hunt lizards and play in the sun for hours on end. He was her companion after Tim passed away and she never went anywhere without him.

She was a wife, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and she will never be forgotten. She is survived by one daughter, Melodie Jantzer and her husband Steve of Grants Pass, two sons, Bill Fien and his wife Suzanne of Grants Pass, and Ron Fien and his wife Kimberly of Grants Pass, 6 grandchildren, Brandie Henderson, Tawnya Soltis, Curtis Brooks, Tyler Brooks, Richelle Ainsworth, and Alicia Anderson and 11 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Josephine County Humane Society.

Each and every day our mother, grandmother and grammy will be missed and her memory cherished. We love you.