Jo Ella (Shearman) Lawton, 90, retired her beautiful smile and caregiving soul. She was walked peacefully home into the eternal peace of the Lord from her Sun Lakes, AZ, apartment on April 28, 2026. Jo was a woman of boundless love, kindness, creativity, faith, and a champion greeting card giver. And her sister Joy provided the greatest angelic caregiving and medical advocacy during Jo’s last year on Earth.
A friend to everyone, Jo Ella began caregiving at age seven. She helped the neighbors, the Lawtons, care for two younger children after their mother died of cancer. Little did she know that their oldest son, Bill, would ask for her hand in marriage a decade later, a marriage that would last for 65 years until he passed away.
Her heart of community service naturally expressed her Christian faith. Jo Ella was active in many local groups: United Methodist Women, church board, Philemon Club, Bridge Club, Pink Lady at the local hospital, 4-H County Youth Committee, County Porkettes, and Cancer Society. After her boys left home, she worked part-time at a local dress shop. Later, she worked fulltime at the Farm Bureau office until retiring to Sun Lakes, AZ, in 1997.
Retirement years in Sun Lakes were filled with wonderful sisterhood (both Joy and Jackie lived there) and city life adaptation. Jo’s loving and caring personality made her many great friends during 29 years in the valley. But her biggest thrills were visits from her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. The latest was last summer, when almost 50 came to celebrate her 90th and her sister Joy’s 95th birthdays.
The final seven years after her husband Bill passed were the toughest. Her sisters and great assisted-living friends truly helped. Her signature lifelong gesture was sending beautiful greeting cards and heartfelt poems filled with words of encouragement to loved ones. She never missed an occasion to write what mattered to each person.
Jo Ella kept her health until a fall and kidney disease took a toll. Thanks to the amazing, loving help of sister Joy and the assisted living and hospice caregivers, she was able to pass peacefully in her apartment.
Jo was preceded in death by her parents Ethel and John Shearman; husband Bill Lawton; and her sister Jackie.
She is survived by her sister Joy; her children Craig (Alexandra), Kurt (Shelli), Tom (Cae), and Rob (Cesar); grandchildren Seth (Carol), Brad (Jacalyn), Nick, Monica (Roni), Matt (Michelle), Tanner (Amber), Tiffany (Wade), and Trevor (Savanah); and great-grandchildren Lily, Ella, Tate, Harper, Hudson, Marcus, Wilson, Layla, and Letti.
The family is planning a July gathering in Iowa to celebrate her life, where she was born and raised. A private interment in Jefferson Municipal Cemetery will follow. Sister Joy hosted a beautiful storytelling and memory-sharing time for Jo Ella at her assisted-living chapel in Sun Lakes, AZ, on May 6, 2026. To honor Jo Ella’s life, her family invites friends to make something beautiful and give it to someone: a card, a letter, a dessert, a photograph, a posture of wholehearted attention. To do so is to embody Jo Ella’s memory and carry her love forward.
