Jo Ann Hovious

Jo Ann Platt Hovious passed away from this life at the age of 89 on Sunday, November 19, 2023. Born in Los Angeles, California on July 15, 1934, her parents, Harvey and Jane Platt, had been residing in Phoenix, Arizona, but went to California, where her grandparents, Agnes and Fred Wilder were living, for the birth in order to avoid the scorching summer heat in Phoenix. 
From an early age, Jo loved trips to California to see her grandparents. Jo's early years were spent in Arizona, where her father owned a large cattle feedlot west of Phoenix and her grandfather owned a very large cattle operation near St. Johns, Arizona. Jo spent many summers in St. Johns, going out to the various ranches in the morning with the workers and her cousins in a caravan of pick-up trucks, horse trailers and a chuck wagon. They would spend their days rounding up cattle and working on the ranch. Her time on the ranch laid a foundation for her love of the southwest and the outdoors, passions she would later share with her own family. When Jo was eleven years old her parents divorced and she moved with her mother to El Paso, Texas, where her mother's sister lived. Jo attended Loretto Academy for high school and went on to graduate with a history degree from Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso). At Texas Western Jo was an active student and was elected president of her Chi Omega sorority. There she also developed her love for reading (one of her favorite pastimes) and history, in which she later went on to earn a master's degree. Most importantly, it was at Texas Western that Jo met her future husband, Dan Hovious. They were married on March 8, 1956, and immediately moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where Dan served two years in the U.S. Army as an Air Defense Officer. After his service was completed, Jo and Dan moved to Farmington, New Mexico, where Dan was employed as a geologist by El Paso Natural Gas. After a year or two there Dan's father lured him back to El Paso to work with his newly formed real estate company. Jo and Dan, together with their three daughters, lived there until Dan's retirement from the real estate business forty-one years later. After retirement, Jo and Dan built their dream home in Sandia Park, New Mexico, down the road from daughter Linda and her husband, Cameron and their two daughters. Jo and Dan spent these years enjoying the southwest vistas, crisp mountain air and the time to relax and read with one another. They frequently made trips to nearby Santa Fe for their favorite New Mexican food at The Shed and south to their beloved Ruidoso, where for many years they owned a cabin that was the scene for some of the grandchildren's best memories. Even in her final years, Jo often reminisced about her times spent outdoors, camping with the family or at the cabin, cherishing that (in the words of her favorite John Denver) rocky mountain high. Jo was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dan. 
She is survived by three daughters and their husbands: Kathy and Scott Incerto, Linda and Cameron Stevens and Karen and Peter Kremm, as well as seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A Memorial Rosary for Jo will be held on Friday, January 5, 2024, at 10:00 am followed by a Memorial Mass at 10:30 am at the Church of the Incarnation, 2309 Monterrey Road NE - Rio Rancho, NM 87144. Burial will be in Santa Fe National Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. 
Please visit our online guestbook for Jo at www.FrenchFunerals.com.
FRENCH - Westside
9300 Golf Course Rd NW
505-897-0300