about Joann

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JoAnn Thompson Ransford, born on June 27, 1948, passed away peacefully at Washington Hospital Center on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.  She is survived by her son, Emon Ransford (Tamla), grandson, Emon II, and many loving family and extended family members and friends.  A viewing will be held on Tuesday December 12, 2023 at 10:30am followed by a Homegoing Celebration at 11:30am at McGuire Funeral Home, 7400 Georgia Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C 20012.  Interment Private.

 The Life of JoAnn Thompson Ransford

Jo Ann Thompson Ransford was born on June 27, 1948.  She was the only child of the late Ingria “Ing” Juanita Hodge Thompson and the late Joseph Thompson of Washington, DC.  She departed this life on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 in Washington Hospital Center with her son, Emon Thompson Ransford at her side.

 Jo Ann was adored by her mother, Ing.  She was further doted upon by her loving and often described as “protective” grandmother, the late Marion Johnson Hodge known as “Mama.”  She received tremendous love and support from her late Uncle James “Jimmie” Hodge and was later able to reciprocate that same love and support to her late cousin, James “Jabo” Hodge during his time of need.  Later in life, Jo Ann provided the solitary care to both Mama and Ing with unflinching dedication, determination, and devotion. 

Jo Ann attended the public schools of Washington, DC and graduated from Eastern High School in 1966.  As an adult, she obtained a bachelor’s degree of Science from the University of Maryland in 1997.  Jo Ann had over 45 years of service with the Federal government under the U.S. Department of the Interior.  She began her federal career as a secretary, then moved on to become an EEO counselor.  After retirement, she knew that there was more that she wanted to do with her time.  She worked in the Anne Arundel public school system as a substitute teacher.  This brought her much joy and delight in working with smaller children.

 Jo Ann loved to travel for work and with friends and family.  She has traveled to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, New Orleans, Jamaica, Hawaii, Belize, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Texas, Alaska, Mexico and The Caribbean just to name a few!  She loved the casinos and was very friendly with the slot machines. She coined the phrase “ching-ching” and applied assigned the code name “church” to safely refer to her beloved casino’s!  She loved to “ching-ching so much so that she and a long-time high school friend made a routine of “Take Out Tuesdays.” She had a bevy of girlfriends who were lovingly known as “The Golden Girls.”  She had a very strong and loving relationship with her son, Emon, whom she was “crazy about.”  However, only one person could eclipse that bond and that was of her grandson, Emon II, affectionately called “Tweety", aka " TP", aka " My Tweety Pie".  The two of them were known to have fierce and competitive games of Uno and Tonk together during their weekly dates.  She spent every Sunday with a newspaper in hand, reading them in her very particular order, scanning the local headlines and obituaries, a family tradition inherited from Mama.  She loved music.  Especially her lifelong love of Smokey Robinson, various Motown artist, Babyface, and more recently, Maxwell, and Bruno Mars. Jo Ann is survived by her son, Emon (Tamla), grandson Emon II, her cousin/godson, Victor Hodge, and many loving family and extended family members and friends. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.

"WE GOT SHIGITY TO DO" (Nani, 2023)