Joanne Marie Armaghan, a champion for crime victims, and a devoted wife and mother of two, died at age 61 on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, at Hospice of the Sacred Heart in Dunmore following a hard-fought 10-year battle with breast cancer.

Joanne is remembered for her intelligence, her unwavering fortitude, her selflessness, humble nature, and her ability to use her strengths to shatter glass ceilings in fields dominated by men. Looking for more fulfillment in her career, Joanne made a mid-career switch when she joined the Pennsylvania State Police as a forensic scientist in 2000. She worked closely with state and county law enforcement, using her skills to help bring justice to countless crime victims for more than 17 years.

Although she was an esteemed and well-regarded careerwoman by her peers, Joanne always said her greatest accomplishment was raising her two children.

While juggling a full-time job and taking care of the family home and children, Joanne was known to make her children’s Halloween costumes by hand, bake the best chocolate-peanut butter brownies known to earth, while throwing frequent dinner parties for their large cohort of extended friends and family. Anyone who entered her home always felt its warmth, was charmed by her festive decorations, and left with a stomach full of delicious homemade food, and a smile. She loved homemaking as much as she loved her career, and managed to excel at both, seemingly with ease.

Joanne had an immense impact on those she met throughout her life. Always putting others before herself, Joanne had an innate ability to make even strangers feel at ease around her, and always made sure others' needs were always taken care of, even if it meant to her own detriment.

Joanne was born in June 1957 at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital in Kingston, and grew up in Dallas with her parents, Stephen and Joan Tometchko, and her sister, Dianne.

Joanne graduated from Bishop O'Reilly High School in 1975 from Bishop O’Reilly, and went on to continue her studies, earning a Bachelor’s of Medical Technology at King’s College. Joanne worked full-time while attending the University of Scranton, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Clinical Biochemistry.

It was while working at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital as a medical technologist when she met her husband, Ahmad Armaghan, who worked in the same laboratory.

The two married in 1983, and moved to Philadelphia where they lived for three years and Joanne gave birth to her first child, Reza, in 1985. Upon moving back to the Wyoming Valley, the couple had their second child, Sarah, and settled into their first home together in Kingston.

Later in her short life, Joanne enjoyed visiting Mexico and the Caribbean with her husband, taking frequent trips and cruises to enjoy the warm weather and serene nature. She shared this joy of travel with her children and sister as well, going to places like Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. She also loved long-weekend jaunts to Atlanta, Georgia, especially during peach season, Newport, Rhode Island, and Niagara Falls.

Despite her love of warm-weather travel destinations, her admiration of her favorite animal, the penguin, was very well known among her family and friends, who would shower her with everything from penguin-printed pajamas, stuffed animals and other home decorations, bringing her such pure joy. She also had a love of angels, and amassed quite a collection of the divine figurines.

A devout Roman Catholic, Joanne was engaged in her parish community at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, teaching hundreds of the area’s youth through CCD classes for nearly 20 years. This was a passion of hers, and one she embarked on with a sense of honor and purpose to spread the word of God, Jesus and his teachings. 

Joanne was predeceased by her father. She is survived by her mother, of Wilkes-Barre; her husband, of Forty Fort; her son and daughter-in-law, Reza Armaghan, and Rebecca Armaghan, of King of Prussia; her daughter and son-in-law and grandson, Sarah Armaghan, Hojjat Ghaderi, and Benjamin Ghaderi, of Union City, New Jersey; and her sister and brother-in-law, Dianne and Ted Ruch, of Dallas; her nephew and his wife, Matthew and Katie Ruch, of Wyoming; and nephew Stephen Ruch, of Dallas.

Family and friends are invited for a visitation hour beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 02, 2019, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 116 Hughes Street, Swoyersville. A Catholic Mass celebrating Joanne’s life will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a luncheon. Burial will be in Saint Stephen’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Lehman Township.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Hospice of the Sacred Heart’s inpatient unit in Dunmore, where the phenomenal staff brought long-awaited pain relief, peace, and dignity to Joanne in her final days.