Joan "Joanie" Lutz

Joan Marie Lutz died peacefully at home July 24, 2019.

Rosary will be said today at 6:00 p.m., at Schooler Funeral Home Brentwood Chapel, 4100 S. Georgia St. Funeral mass will be celebrated at 2:00 p.m., Monday, July 29, 2019 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 Washington. Burial will follow in Llano Cemetery. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home.

Joan was born May 13, 1952 in Amarillo, Texas at St. Anthony’s Hospital, the daughter of Carl and Eunice Lutz of Amarillo.  She attended public schools and Amarillo College and graduated with an Associates Degree and Certification as a Registered Medical Laboratory Technician. Joan worked several years in Dr. John Jones’ pediatric practice and then 38 years at Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, specializing in electron microscopy in the Bacteriology and Virology Departments.  She retired in January 2018.

Joan sang alto with St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir for many years. Her spiritual journey included a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with her mother in the 1990s.  Her regular attendance at St. Mary’s  continued after her parents’ deaths, whom she had  cared for throughout her life.

She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority.

Her various creative outlets and hobbies included quilt-making, sewing, machine embroidery, doll-making, ceramics, stained glass and tole painting. Her family loved her creampuffs and other pastries.

Joanie loved playing bunco and hand-and-foot with her mother and family members.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother John.  Her survivors include three sisters, Melanie Nicholson, Mary Lutz and Margaret R. Galland, her brothers-in-law Kelley Galland and Peter Kinoy, nephews Ben and Stephen Reed, Aaron and Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, and Sean Nicholson; and niece Rebecca Nicholson Weir.  She retained strong relationships with her many cousins among the Handley and Gulde families and was a favorite babysitter for their children.  In addition to family, she leaves behind her beloved terrier, Ollie George.