Joanne Wright: Labor Day Parade founder dies after long illness
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: September 24, 2008
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
Joanne Wright moved to Santa Paula only a decade ago, but she soon gained a reputation as a fighter for causes ranging from promoting literacy to formally recognizing the working person. And Joanne remained a fighter until her September 13, 2008 death following a long illness.
Joanne’s passing came just days after an observance of the 9-11-01 attacks on the World Trade Center was held, her last cause and one taken on in the last weeks of her life. “Joanne was a woman of deep and abiding faith who lived out her faith in many ways, but especially in her dedication to making life better in Santa Paula,” said Audrey Vincent.
Born Joanne Nagel in Brooklyn, New York on May 19, 1930, Joanne grew up in a comfortable home provided by her meatpacking father famous for his company’s Nagel Hams. She graduated from Berkeley School, attended Duke University, and graduated with a Bachelors of Art degree from Barnard College.
An aspiring actress, she worked in summer stock in Connecticut and radio and television in New York. Joanne’s radio drama series career ended abruptly when her character was stabbed to death.
Joanne became rapidly fluent in Spanish when she was offered the opportunity to do film work in Mexico. Living in Mexico City and Havana, Joanne also did English language dubbing including for Maria Felix, still considered Mexico’s most famous actress.
Back in Connecticut she met her husband, Peter Wright, and the couple was married on July 5, 1958. The family - including son Peter and later daughters Margot and Amanda - settled in Los Angeles in 1961, where Joanne began her lifelong devotion to community activism through Portrait of American Women, an outreach organization centered on racial tolerance and acceptance.
Later she began tutoring English as a Second Language. When she began to be paid for the work she was doing, she worked as director for the Center of Community Promotion in Pacoima and later as a community advocate for the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse at Bridge-Focus, located in Van Nuys.
It was 1998 when Joanne and Peter moved to Santa Paula, where she quickly and until the end of her life was deeply engaged in the life of the community. Joanne became a familiar face at City Council meetings, and her name was recognizable to those who read letters to the editor.
She was also widely known for her community involvement, which included the Santa Paula California Oil Museum, as a FLAIR tutor, Blanchard Community Library Board trustee, Santa Clara Valley Hospice Board director, and Angel Tutor at McKevett School. Joanne also volunteered for Interface Children Family Services, and was a member of the Ventura County Garden Club.
She and Peter also were also highly active in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where Joanne participated in many programs and activities, including organization of the Daughters of the King. Joanne was recognized numerous times for her volunteer efforts, including the 1996 Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce Community Woman of Achievement Award and the 2004 FLAIR Volunteer Excellence Award.
Always stylishly dressed and coiffed, Joanne had a deep distinctive voice and her perfect diction and no nonsense attitude - tempered by her strong sense of humor and hearty laugh - soon became a constant at community events and fundraisers. She was particularly interested in issues of equality, affordable housing and recognizing the working person, which led to her founding the Santa Paula Labor Day Parade, one of only three such parades in the state.
As a woman of many gifts, Audrey Vincent said of Joanne, “what immediately comes to mind is that oft used expression: one person in the right place and time can make a difference. She loved this town, wanted to give something back, bring people together, and the Labor Day Parade, entirely her idea, was her means to do all of that. Joanne knew about community organizing; that it takes more than an idea, it takes a team effort.”
After Joanne told her idea of the Labor Day Parade to Vincent, Dr. Dora Crouch and Anita Pulido, Vincent said, “I just felt the idea was too good to turn down,” and the first parade was held in 2005 with the assistance of longtime Optimist Club Christmas Parade Coordinator Ron Merson. The parade’s mission statement, which “focuses on honoring the worker, was crafted by Joanne,” who believed “community disagreements could be diffused and the community would move toward greater unity if people could be brought together celebrating the day and one another’s work.”
Whenever the energy of the parade committee lagged, “Joanne would fire us up... she did much of the legwork those first two years, but she also knew how and when to ask for help.” Joanne was, said Vincent, “overjoyed with the success of the event each year, and gratified by its growth and acceptance.”
“Joanne was a lovely person, very warm and encouraging and hard working,” said her friend Crouch, who served with Joanne on the BCL Board of Trustees and later on the Labor Day Parade Committee. “Joanne did a wonderful job on the BCL Board,” organizing a successful fundraiser at Teague Mansion that Crouch said “brought in quite a bit of money.”
Joanne was never too busy to help the community she quickly adopted as her own. “She thought Santa Paula was a wonderful place to live, and had lived in other places that she believed were not nearly as welcoming and not as put together as Santa Paula.”
Crouch said that Joanne always held “very high hopes that everyone would learn to work together,” and used BCL, a “neutral meeting place” to promote community adhesiveness. Overall, Crouch added, “Joanne was a very spiritual person... that came out when you knew her, and that spirituality was the underlying motive for everything she did.”
Aside from her husband Peter, son Peter (Nicki Bauer), daughters Margot Wright and Amanda Flora, Joanne is also survived by her five beloved grandchildren. A sister, Claire Nagel, and nephew Malik Nagel, also survive her.
A Memorial Service to celebrate Joanne’s life will be held Saturday, September 27 at St. Paul’s Episcopal/Emmanuel Lutheran Church, with a reception to follow. In Joanne’s memory, the family requests consideration of gifts to the church (117 N. 7th St., Santa Paula, 93060) or the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association’s Hospice program, 1996 Eastman Ave., Suite 101, Ventura, CA 93003, or the charity of your choice.
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