Joseph B Jann

Age 90, of Saint Paul, MN, a devoted husband and loving father, left this world peacefully on July 15, 2021 due to natural causes.

Joe, the oldest of Joseph Sr. and Margaret Jann’s three children, entered this world on December 1, 1930 on the south side of his beloved hometown of Chicago, IL.   He was a proud graduate of two of the city’s finest Catholic institutions, Saint Ignatius College Prep and Loyola University, and served honorably in the United States Army during the Korean War. 

Joe met the love his life, Margaret Winslow, when both were undergrads at Loyola; they began a sixty-eight year journey together the day after Christmas 1953 while the groom was on leave from basic training.  He began his married life in Petaluma, CA, where he was stationed at the Army’s Two Rock Ranch communications base.  After having their first two boys in California, the couple relocated to the Chicagoland suburb of Carpentersville, where another three boys and two girls were born.  The youngest daughter of this large family was born in their long-time home of Rockford, IL. 

Faith and family were the two most important elements of Joe’s life.  He never missed Sunday Mass and did his best to make sure his children didn’t either.  The life of Saint Peter’s and Saint Bernadette’s parish and school and later Boylan High School were always at the center of the Jann family’s life.  Joe cherished traveling particularly to the Rocky Mountains.  After a boyhood spent playing hockey and baseball, he loved to root for the Wild and the White Sox in retirement.

Joe is survived by his dear wife and all eight children: Joseph (Beth), Mark (Jan) Catherine (Danise), David, Christopher (Rebecca), Stephen (Jan), Maureen (Mike) and Elizabeth (John), fifteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren as well as his sister, Carole.  He looked forward to his eternal reward and being reunited with his daughter, Susan, his parents, and his sister, Delores. 

Visitation will begin at 10:00am on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord, where the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00am. Interment will take place on Friday, July 23 at 9:00am at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.   

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