Joan Kathleen Colleran Hoxsey, MSEd, DMin

Joan Kathleen Colleran Hoxsey, MSEd, DMin

February 14, 1937 – May 13, 2025

Joan loved color, so please wear your colorful outfits for our celebration of her life.

Joan Kathleen Colleran Hoxsey left this physical plane at exactly 3 a.m. while the grandfather clock that she gave us tolled the bells. She was in the loving embrace of her children and grandchildren in her final days and died peacefully at home.

When Joan passed, words of condolence poured in, “What a privilege it was and what fun it was for me to know your mother…She was an extraordinary woman who touched so many lives…Her wonderful legacy will continue to inspire others…She was the beautiful and abundant thread in the Colleran fabric…Her storytelling was amazing and captivated me and so many others…She welcomed me into the family with open arms…She changed my life…Her roots ran deep.”

Born in Minneapolis, she was raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Salem, Oregon. Joan met her beloved husband, Michael at Seattle University and over the next 59 years they lived in many communities on the West Coast and eventually Ohio. Joan, aka “Grammy”, was preceded in death in 2015 by Michael, and her youngest son, James in 2002.

She is survived by daughter Geralyn (Tom) Sparough, daughter Teresa (Jonathan) Grote Bordoli, son Michael (Stacy) Hoxsey, son Daniel Hoxsey, and daughter Suzanne Hoxsey; eleven “perfect” grandchildren — Kateri (Travis) Gries, Alena Hoxsey, Patrick Grote, Kenzi Colleran, George Grote, Joseph Sparough, Eleanor Demaree, Madeline Grote, Eldred Demaree, Mason Hoxsey, and Kristin (Ben) Simon; and five “surely great” grandchildren - Allison Grote, Wiley Parison, Kaia Gries, Evelyn Simon, and Bodhi Gries. Joan also had an extensive community of friends and neighbors whom she considered family. You are one of them!

A commitment to children and families drove Dr. Joan Hoxsey’s life and is behind the move to bring the family to Ohio in 1978 to work along with Michael as the Directors of Family and Marriage Life Ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown. She went on to become the Executive Director of Lorain County Ohio Families First Council, bringing together education, social services, businesses and religious groups. In the early 2000’s Joan & Michael relocated to Cincinnati where she was the Director of the Help Me Grow program for several years before becoming an independent consultant.

She was an early practitioner of the building-on-strengths movement, as well as Appreciative Inquiry, and a strengths-based assessment tool known as the VIA. To follow their own dreams, Joan and Michael opened their company Relationship Resources. She was honored to lead a global group gathered in Barcelona, Spain to create a strategic plan for a new European management project.

Dr. and Mr. Hoxsey worked with parents, couples, churches, students, faculties, and businesses to help them discover their strengths and follow their dreams. Her greatest satisfaction was helping individuals and organizations turn their deficit-based notions around and build on strengths.

Joan was especially proud of the work she and her husband engaged in with adolescent men, which is cited in Peter Block's book Community: The Structure of Belonging. What began as a course on self-confidence and communication evolved into a family relationship with instructors and students.

While raising six children and often working full-time, Joan took 28 years to earn her bachelor’s degree, but then quickly gained a Master of the Science of Education from Youngstown State University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation, Notre Dame, Indiana. She was a licensed professional counselor. Joan co-authored with Michael Finding the ExtraOrdinary Marriage: Appreciative Inquiry for Couples. She also co-authored and wrote chapters and articles for professional journals and conferences. Joan released a memoir in 2020, The Saving Power of Love: A Catholic Girl’s Healing Journey. Undaunted by declining health, in 2024 she wrote Choosing the Back Pew: Raising our Consciousness about Racism. A new project on the experience of older women in the 21st century was embarked upon, but not completed as her health failed.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, May 17, 2025. Joan loved color, so please wear your colorful outfits for our celebration of her life. Beginning with visitation from 11-12:15 at Hodapp Funeral Home in the College Hill community of Cincinnati, 6041 Hamilton Avenue, 45224. The Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 1 p.m. at St. Francis Seraph Church in Over-the-Rhine, 1615 Vine Street, Cincinnati, 45202. A reception will follow immediately at the St. Anthony Center next door to the church.

Looking for parking? Here are some options: The lot behind the school will be open. You access this lot by turning onto Moore Street from Liberty, between the school and the Shell station. The 3CDC Parking lot on the southwest corner of Race and Liberty is a paid parking option. Another paid lot is on Race St., just north of Liberty St., on your left. Street parking has limited spaces available.

In lieu of flowers, Joan would love it if you made a donation to St. Francis Seraph School, St. Francis Seraph Ministries or the Ida P. Favors Library Fund for St. Francis Seraph School. You can make a donation here: https://www.sfsparish.org/how-to-give-to-st-francis-seraph-church/

You can put “Joan Hoxsey – School, Ministries or library” in the notes and the donations will be distributed appropriately.

Livestreaming of the Service is available at:     https://www.facebook.com/SFSChurch