Mary Joan "Jo" (Piatt) Lauer of Fort Wayne, 97, died in the evening on Thursday, June12, 2025. On February 20, 1928, she became the oldest of three children born to John Thomas Piatt, Sr. and Mary Catherine Trevey. Her younger brother was John Thomas Piatt, Jr., better known as "Skip", and her third sibling did not survive birth. Jo's parents were the owners of Shady Court Apartments, 3714 Shady Court, Fort Wayne, plus several rental homes. The Piatt children grew up living in the main apartment building and Jo established several lifelong friendships with other tenants, including Susan and Betty Johnston, Velma Renken, and Col. Solomon L. Long. Her paternal grandmother, Irene Ellen ("Ida E.") Angus Piatt, a natural healer, who lived nearby at 2121 Broadway, made a very deep impression on Jo and this led to her lifelong interest in alternative and complementary health strategies.

Jo attended South Wayne Elementary School, Harrison Hill Middle School, and South Side High School, and graduated near the end of World War II in 1946. At South Side, Jo especially enjoyed and was deeply impressed by the English classes taught by Herman O. Makey, a very demanding teacher who eventually became another lifelong friend. She followed a college preparation curriculum but also prepared conscientiously for her planned future as a wife and mother by minoring in Home Economics Classes. During her years at South Side, Jo participated in Qui Vie, a city-wide High School Sorority, and served as president of the organization during her Junior Year. After graduation, she worked at Fort Wayne National Bank as a teller and later a bookkeeper while taking college classes evenings at the local IU and Purdue extensions.

Jo had known her future husband, Kenneth Lawrence Lauer casually during their years at South Side, but they began dating seriously after he returned to Fort Wayne following a stint in the US Maritime Service (Merchant Marine). Always a careful planner, Jo offered to finance Ken's bachelor's level college education at Butler University in Indianapolis with some of her earnings from the bank. Ken majored in English, found inexpensive lodgings, took extra course hours, and commuted home from Indianapolis as a hitchhiker most weekends, all while, thanks to the postal system of the era, maintaining a twice daily correspondence with his future wife. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in English within 3 years, and then Jo and Ken were married in a simple ceremony at the St. John the Baptist Church Rectory on January 27, 1951. They celebrated afterward with family members at a Wedding Breakfast at The Van Orman Hotel.

The newlyweds obtained a small blue used one-bedroom mobile home, towed it to Colorado with help from Jo's father and his Pontiac, and moved to Greeley where the Colorado State College of Education was located. There, Ken began working on his Master of Arts degree in English and Jo found another banking job to support them while expecting their first child.

After Ken graduated, they moved their mobile home to New Mexico where he taught English at Lovington High School and Jo became a full-time mother and homemaker. Jo, a child of the Great Depression like Ken, maintained a tight budget. She later shared with us that she actually cried when sardines went up a penny a can from 17 to 18 cents.

Two years later, they decided to return to Fort Wayne where they rented a three-room apartment at Shady Court Apartments for several years, then placed a down payment on a nearby three-bedroom home at 4223 Tacoma Avenue in 1959. This became their family's home for more than sixty years.

Jo and Ken lovingly raised three children in that home and Jo often was a supportive adult in the lives of their children's young friends. Some of them kept in touch with Jo for the rest of her life, and a few blended into the family so well that they were frequently included in family events, becoming much loved, though part time, siblings.

As a young mother, Jo continued her college education for a while but then opted to devote herself to her role as a mother and to volunteering on behalf of her children. She had a strong interest in Girl Scouting from her own childhood, became a leader of her daughters' Brownie, Junior and Cadette Scout Troops, was a member of the area's service team, assisted as a day camp leader, and worked with the Limberlost Girl Scout Council's planning committee for the annual Fine Arts Day event for many years. After her son was born, Jo also assisted with his Cub Den in Boy Scouting. She eventually received many Certificates of Appreciation and a Thanks Award from the local Girl Scout Council in recognition of her contributions.

Ultimately, Jo saw Ken through a third college degree: a Master of Arts degree in Library Science which he earned over the course of three summers at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

Jo loved to write. She kept a daily diary of family events from January 1951 through 2018 and also made a photo album and a scrapbook for every year of her marriage because Ken had made a mild suggestion during their honeymoon that they might want to start a family scrapbook. Jo was also the family bookkeeper and financial mastermind, and she made a lovely and comfortable home for the family.

Somehow, Jo found time to pursue family history and genealogy while rearing her family and working part time. She had a particularly strong interest in understanding her Piatt lineage and pursued her Piatt roots by attending and sometimes helping to organize the Annual Piatt Researchers Conference. (After many years of annual gatherings, this group of dear friends tried DNA as a search resource and proved that, as they had always speculated, they were in fact distant cousins.) In addition, she arranged annual summer gatherings for many years to share genealogical information with distant Johnson and Trevey relatives.

In 1974 Jo began playing the organ for Masses at St. Therese Catholic Church on Lower Huntington Road and ended up working there for 33 years as Music Director for the parish. She retired in the early 2000s.

Jo continued to form and maintain close friendships throughout her life and kept in touch across the miles via robust correspondence including about 375 annual Christmas letters mailed every December. She loved to travel, especially with family members, and enjoyed tours, cruises, and even simple out-of-town visits with friends and family alike.

Jo also loved dogs. Her little white childhood dog, Trixie, was probably there to meet her when she walked through the Pearly Gates. Tuffy, Spunky, Sancho, Booker, and Ginger were also very dear to her. When a close friend died and family members could not care for the family dog, Jo fostered Penny for many months. Years later, when Jo moved to Brookdale/The Terrace, she loved to hold any visiting puppy, give a treat to every canine caller, and looked very much forward to seeing the therapy dogs who stopped by every other week.

Jo was widowed in 2013 after almost 63 years of marriage. Her survivors include her children Beth Ann Lauer (Nancy Kilduski), Linda Sue Lauer, Philip Gregory (Joletta) Lauer and her grandchildren, Austin Charun Lauer, Braden Charun Lauer, and Audrey Charun Lauer. She is also survived by twelve nieces and nephews, a cousin Lyngail (John) Schwarz, their children, and 8 Godchildren.

Suggested Memorials are to Turnstone (www.Turnstone.org, 3320 N. Clinton Ave., Fort Wayne, 46805); Humane Fort Wayne, (4914 South Hannah St., Fort Wayne, 46808); or your favorite charity.