JoAnn Mattick, 81, Anna Maria, Florida, died January 10, 2017.
JoAnn served as an Anna Maria City Commissioner from 2007 to 2012. Before even being elected to her first term, JoAnn wrote the grant that obtained funding for the Anna Maria City Pier boardwalk, gazebos and landscaping, the largest unmatched grant in the Island’s history.
Later, as a Commissioner, she participated in the planning and completion of the boardwalk. JoAnn’s goals were to beautify the city pier in a manner that was consistent with "old Florida charm“ and to ensure there was a place for older and mobility-challenged people to enjoy our beautiful waters. The City Pier on Anna Maria Island is now Manatee County’s number one tourist attraction.
Other significant contributions during her tenure as a City Commissioner included the City's purchase of the six lots at the Pine Avenue-Bay Boulevard intersection, the restructured Pine Avenue parking plan and the comprehensive plan amendment for the environmental and preservation zones.
JoAnn will be remembered by AMI locals and small business owners as a good friend and neighbor who fought to preserve the unique character and charm of the island.
Born to Leola Evelyn and Joseph Fitch in Portsmouth, Ohio, on April 13, 1935, and raised by Ralph and Dortha Sutterfield in Wilder, Kentucky, Laura JoAnn Fitch married John Anthony Mattick on October 1, 1955. They lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they raised six daughters and one son: Laura Mattick (Michael Poirier), Kathryn Sally (George Fritz) Stauffacher, Janet (David) Brinton, Sandy Mattick, John Francis Mattick, Esther Mattick (Tara O’Brien) and Rebecca (David) Bouchard.
She fell in love with the tranquility and beauty of AMI in the late 1990s while visiting her daughter Sally, who had recently relocated to Sarasota. JoAnn purchased a vacant lot just opposite the Rod and Reel Pier, and there built a home where she resided with her youngest daughter Becky, Becky’s husband, David Bouchard, and their children, Emma and Will. It was not long before three more of her children and their families (daughters, Sandy and Esther, son, John, and daughters-in-law, Marcia and Tara) followed suit and relocated to her little piece of paradise.
Upon retirement from the City Council, JoAnn split her time between Anna Maria and Aurora, Indiana, where she shared a passion for gardening, artisanal crafts, and bargain hunting with her beloved sister Reba Sue Weldon and her husband Delmar Weldon of Sunman, Indiana.
JoAnn was the proud grandmother of 18 (Fritzy, Alison, Erin, Max, Fred, Nick, Katie, JoJo, Sarah, Caroline, Paige, Michelle, Hallie, Jack, Emma, Will, Jackson and Chloe, and great grandmother of 2 (and counting). JoAnn’s brother, Richard (Mardi) Fitch predeceased her. She also leaves behind her half-brother, Michael Sutterfield of Cincinnati, OH, and her step-brother, Louis Richard Schardt, Jr. of Union, KY.
