After 90 years of a life well lived and full of love, B. Joanne “Jo” Linge Zumstein is resting in the embrace of Jesus. She died on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in her home, just as she wished, with her husband and family by her side. Though her absence leaves us brokenhearted, we know she is, in her own words, “rejoicing with the Lord.”
Born Dec. 8, 1933, to Merrill and Florence Linge in Washougal, Washington, she was the fifth of 10 children and was preceded in death by her parents and eight of her siblings. Jo’s life wasn’t always easy, especially growing up, but she was “one tough cookie” who chose to build a different sort of life for herself rather than falling victim to her circumstances. One example of the spunk and grit that always marked her life included suggesting to her high school sweetheart, Donald Zumstein, Sr., that he stop lolly-gagging and “just marry her already” after she graduated from Woodland High School in 1951. This solved both a housing conundrum she faced — no apartments would rent to an unmarried woman at the time — and also jump-started her life with the partner who would be by her side for the next 72 years, separated only by her passing.
More than any accomplishment, Jo would want to be remembered for her deep love for her family, including her husband, Don; their four children and their spouses, Don Jr. and Cindy, Michael and Connie, Everett, and Janie and Steve Powell; as well as 11 grandchildren, Michael, Carrie, Josh, Chad, Kristin, William, Travis, Wyatt, Daniel, Whitney and Courtney; and 25 great-grandchildren. She is survived by them all, and one sister, Jean Horal Bearg.
Jo loved having her family visit. She’d always pour you a cup of coffee and invite you to sit at her kitchen table to chat. She knew when to listen and when to ask questions; when to offer advice and when to hold her peace. (Just kidding. She rarely kept her opinions to herself.) She also knew everyone’s favorite desserts, which she’d pull out of the oven shortly after you arrived for a visit. Among her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her waffles and pancakes were legendary — a staple of every sleepover at Nana’s house.
Gifted with an intrepid entrepreneurial spirit and a work ethic shaped by a childhood milking cows before school, Jo raised her four kids alongside the three businesses that she and Don owned and operated at Duluth fiCorner in Ridgefield. They started with the Duluth Tavern in the 1960s, then the Z-Mart Convenience Store in 1973 and Don and Jo’s Drive-In, which opened Memorial Day Weekend in 1968 and remains family-owned and operated to this day. If you loved Jo, stop by the drive-In and order a small peppermint milkshake in her memory. They were her favorite.
As she stepped back from day-to-day business operations in 1985, Jo “retired” with the same vigor as she always worked — diving into her many other interests as though they were full-time jobs. She studied to become a travel agent, decorated cakes, arranged flowers and even took painting lessons, decorating the walls of her home with her landscapes and still lifes.
Thanks to the invitation of a beer salesman at the Z Mart in the 1980s, Jo started attending church in her 50s, getting to personally know the God whose presence she’d always felt. From the time that she was baptized until her dying day, she loved and trusted Jesus with a child-like faith made all the more profound considering all the hardships she’d walked through in life. Through the years, several area churches were important parts of her spiritual journey, including Faith Center Fellowship, First Church of God in Hazel Dell, Glenwood Church and Liberty Bible.
Jo was adventurous and curious. She and her husband loved to travel and had many adventures around the world, including trips to Europe, Australia and the Holy Land, parasailing in Mazatlan and skydiving in Estacada to celebrate her 75th birthday. They also loved exploring the Pacific Northwest, especially when taking their Texas grandchildren on camping excursions each summer all around “God’s Country,” to the mountains and the beach or to the lake for fishing. In their senior years, she and Don became snowbirds in Arizona and southern California.
We’re so grateful for all the years we had with Jo, and we’ll remember our wife, mother, grandmother and friend for many things, including her protective love for all vulnerable children, her expectation that people with disabilities be treated with dignity and respect, and her insistence that, “You can get through anything and still be a good person if you want to.”
Her celebration of life service will be held at Reign Church (formerly Faith Center Fellowship), located at 11608 NE 107th St. in Vancouver. The service will be at 2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Open House Ministries, P.O. Box 242, Vancouver, Washington, 98660.
