Joanne Helen Houser

The Life of Joanne Helen Houser

 Joanne Houser, 86, of Yucaipa, passed into eternity surrounded by family on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. She was born on April 29, 1939, in Chicago, IL, to Sylvester and Helen Cichocki. She grew up in Gary, IN, alongside her younger sister, Sylvia, and graduated from Edison High School in 1957. She later resided in Yucaipa, CA, for over 60 years until her passing.

She served in the U.S. Air Force as a Personnel Specialist in the Air Defense Command beginning on April 6, 1959, at Hamilton AFB in CA. She was honorably discharged on September 21, 1961.

Joanne met Lionel William Houser at Hamilton AFB, where they dated and fell in love. They were married on September 30, 1960, in Colton, CA, where they began their family together. She gave birth to her son, Stephen William, on February 7, 1962, and her daughter, Sandra Ann, on January 11, 1964.

Throughout her life, she worked primarily as a beautician and as a kindergarten teacher’s aide at a Baptist school. She dedicated her life to following Christ and was baptized at Bryant Street Baptist Church in the early 1970s. She later worshipped at Yucaipa First Baptist Church, Packinghouse Christian Fellowship, and Wildwood Calvary Chapel.

She loved traveling the Southwest; sewing and knitting; tole painting; and reading British mysteries—particularly Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series. She will be remembered most as a woman who prayed faithfully and constantly, created a warm and inviting home, cared deeply for her family, and loved God with everything she had.

Joanne is survived by her children, Steve and Connie Houser and Sandy Ringhofer; her grandchildren, Katie (and Lawrence) Quenga, Neil (and Alexis) Houser, and Trent (and Jewel) Houser; as well as her great-grandchildren, Callan Quenga, Sutton Quenga, and Alora Houser.