Joan Lowery Moore

Our precious mother, Joan Lowery Moore, who loved people more than anything in the world, went home to be with Jesus on October 19, 2026, at the age of 90. Today she is rejoicing in heaven, reunited with her husband of 56 years, our daddy, James, and all those she loved who went before her. Though we will miss her deeply, it's hard not to celebrate with her.

Joan was born March 10, 1936, in Hodge, Louisiana, to Robert and Elsie Bell Lowery. For decades she was an active member of First United Methodist Church in Eunice, where she made lifelong friends. Following James's death, she moved to Madison, Mississippi, to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Jena and Patrick Mayo, and their family. There she joined Broadmoor Baptist Church, where she adored her church family and the many dear friends she made over the past 15 years.

Before she retired, Joan lovingly cared for babies and children in her home for many years, treating each one as her own with a gentle, patient spirit. She was also a skilled seamstress who sewed for her family in her earlier years and later made drapes, nursery bedding, and crocheted baby blankets for those she loved.

But she took her greatest joy in sharing life with family and friends. She loved playing games together, lingering over conversation around a table at home or at a restaurant, and simply being with people. As she once said, "I need to be around people. It feeds my spirit." She knew the birthdays of scores of friends and relatives by heart and loved to call on their special day, and no one ever left her presence without one of her famous hugs. As one relative put it, you might feel like a lump of coal before you see Aunt Joan, but once you see her, you feel like a diamond.

As the matriarch of her family and the eldest of her generation, Joan did more than anyone to keep the family close. Through her faithful phone calls, she carried news of births, weddings, and losses across Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, and whenever they could, she and James were there in person.

Just weeks before her passing, she said, "Others. That's a big word." It was the truth she lived by. Following Scripture's call to value others above ourselves, she always put others first, and she lived out that big word in the fullest way possible.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband, James Linwood Moore Jr.; her sister, Sue Lowery Thurston; her son-in-law, Bobby Joe Poisso; her grandson, Adam Heath Poisso; and her nephew, Jeffrey Lynn Reynolds.

She is survived by her three daughters: Jana Moore Poisso; Jena Moore Mayo and husband Patrick Lauren Mayo; and Jaron Moore Fontenot and husband David Fontenot. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Allison Lea Carpenter and husband Nick, Aaron Moore Poisso, Logan Lamar Mayo and wife Krystal, Brennan Linwood Mayo and wife Brittany, Keegan Landon Mayo, Ella Joan Stone, and Emma Jane Stone; and great-grandchildren Savannah, Kate, and Jameson Carpenter, Reagan and Ivy Mayo, and Leah, Lewis, and Martin Mayo. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, including Deana Reynolds Blankenship, Sherry Bell Rockhold, Gary Lane Bell, and Dennis Bell, who faithfully showed their love through frequent, often daily, phone calls; and by many cousins and dear relatives.

Visitation will be held Friday, October 23, from 4 to 8 pm at Quirk & Son Funeral Home, 121 South 6th Street, Eunice, Louisiana. A prayer service and memory sharing will begin at 5:30 pm led by Dwight Jodon. The family warmly welcomes all who wish to pay their respects and would love the chance to thank you for the joy you brought to her life.

A small family graveside service will be held Saturday, October 24, at 1 pm at Antioch Graveyard, 518 North Antioch Road, Quitman, Louisiana, where she will be laid to rest beside James and her grandson Adam.