JoAnn Baker, former editor, has died
CHESTER — The Straus News family is in mourning with the loss of JoAnn Baker, a former editor, columnist and reporter. Baker, formerly of Monroe, died on Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Austin, Texas, after battling cancer. She was surrounded by her family. Baker was 60 years old.
Her professional life at Straus, which spanned 21 years, started in 1992 doing editorial paste up. She covered beats for The Warwick Advertiser and The Photo News, became a copyeditor and a page designer. She was the editor of the West Milford Messenger from 2005 to 2007, and editor of the Sparta Independent and Township Journal from 2008 until 2013. She is probably most well-known for her humor column that appeared in the Straus papers, "The View From My House," where she chronicled life with her husband, Bob, and her two boys, and included topics from car payments to bragging holiday letters to marrying a younger man.
She went on to write three books, "The View From My House," "The Big Sleep" and "Dirty Little Secrets."
"We will long remember JoAnn Baker as one of a kind," said Jeanne Straus, president of Straus News. "In her 20 years with Straus News, she worked in almost every department. At each, she brought incredible intellect, outsized humor and deep dedication. She is sorely missed by all who worked with her and the many readers and community leaders who depended on her steady leadership throughout the years."
The roles she most treasured, though, were the ones within her family.
Baker was a wife and partner, a mom and grandma, a daughter and sister. She was married to her husband, Bob, for 36 years. JoAnn and Bob loved cruising to islands, bowling together and taking trips to Atlantic City. They spent many years at the Renaissance Faire selling pickles and having a ball each season doing it.
The couple raised their two sons, Joe and Chris, in Monroe. Joe and his wife, Jamie, live in Monroe. Chris and his wife, Liz, along with their children Allie Mae and Dylan, live in Austin, Texas. JoAnn relished being a grandmother to her beloved grandchildren. Her family brought her the most joy in her life.
Although she gave birth to two boys, she was mother to many more.
"My mom always made our home available to all who needed it," said her son Joe. "She was a mother to more than just me and Chris."
"JoAnn and I sat practically cheek to jowl for five years, working as Straus News editors. That’s where I met her and we cemented an incredibly deep and important friendship that carried well beyond our working hours," said Kalet. "We took pottery classes together, had pedicures together and were two parts of a trio in a fiction writers group. Her insight and her wit – both sharp as a ginsu knife, were invaluable to me as a friend and a colleague."
"JoAnn could do anything at all: write, edit, design newspaper pages, throw pots, sew clothing, read upside down," Kalet reflected. "I cannot say how much I will miss her. All I can do is to remember her, to remember everything about her and every moment we were together. That’s how I will honor her and keep her with me."
Bob Quinn, managing editor of the Warwick Advertiser and The Photo News, was a longtime colleague and friend.
"JoAnn was the 'go-to' person in the newsroom when it came to understanding how our system worked and how to get stories and photos from the print editions to our web pages. And she was always willing to share her knowledge with everyone in the newsroom," he said. "If there was a way to make our work more efficient, JoAnn would find it. There was very little that was extraneous about JoAnn.
"The other thing that I liked about JoAnn was that she did not suffer fools, even if I played that part every once in a while."
Stan Martin was Baker's first editor at Straus.
"Working with JoAnn Baker was always pleasurable," said Martin. "She kept us smiling. JoAnn’s upbeat and humorous view of life was shared far beyond her newspaper readers. She donated copies of her books to American soldiers in Iraq, including my daughter. I’m sure this contributed to much-needed laughter for our combat troops."
Claudia Wysocki also worked with Baker for many years.
"JoAnn called me only a few weeks ago. We were on the phone for over an hour. I knew it wasn't but she sounded the same. We laughed and gabbed," said Wysocki. "She was so happy to be with her grandchildren."
Another Straus News colleague, Pamela Chergotis, worked with JoAnn since 2000.
"Hardly a day goes by that I don't recall some wise and funny thing JoAnn has said," Chergotis said. "If there's one thing to know about her, it's that she was just hilarious. When I say JoAnn was funny, I'm also telling you that she was incredibly intelligent and generous and empathetic, because all those qualities are contained in the gift she had to make people laugh.
"JoAnn never shied away from reporting a tough story, and never did her compassion fail her. Foremost on her mind were not the officials with megaphones but the people outside of the limelight — the parents flipping couch cushions to find change enough for diapers, the homebound residents waiting for the snowplow, the students getting hassled at school for being different. She cared tremendously about everyone."
"I learned from JoAnn. She helped me get the lay of the land when I took this job," said Linda Smith Hancharick, editor of the West Milford Messenger. "She knew many of the players and filled me in. I always appreciated her insight and the fact that she cared enough to help me. We shared many stories and laughs. And she was my Foot Spa partner. She'd just have to say the word and we'd make our appointments. I will miss her humor and her humanity."
Baker was born on Nov. 3, 1955 and grew up in Madison, N.J., with her mom and dad, Joe and Elinor (Ann) Troianello and her siblings, Craig, Mark and Susan. She graduated from Madison High School and Kean College. She had a group of high school friends she continued to see and travel with throughout her life.
Baker was predeceased by her mother, Ann, in 2014, and her father, Joe, who passed away on a flight just a week before, en route to visit JoAnn.
She is survived by her husband, Bob; sons Joseph and his wife, Jamie, of Monroe and Christopher and his wife, Elizabeth, of Austin, Texas; grandchildren Allie Mae and Dylan of Austin; her brothers Craig and his wife, Karen, and Mark and his wife, Lori, of Yakima, Washington; sister Susan Ritchie and her husband, Duane, of Monmouth, Oregon; her mother-in-law, Kath Baker, of Virginia. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and countless friends.
A celebration of Baker's life will be held at a future date.
Her family asks that donations be made in JoAnn Baker's name to fund breast cancer research.