Joanne Giallombardo Fraser

It is with profound sadness that the family of Dr. Joanne Giallombardo Fraser (78) of Columbia, SC, announces her passing in May of 2021. Born October 1942, Joanne grew up in Wilmette, Illinois - graduating from New Trier High School, then the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in English Education. Her first teaching experience came at the Sandwell School for Girls, near Birmingham, England. There she met and married her husband of 56 years, Dr. James Gilbert Fraser. She then went on to teach at the Karl C. Parrish School in Barranquilla, Colombia SA, where she developed an interest in bilingual and bi-cultural education. When she returned to the United States, she earned a master’s and Ed. D. in Curriculum Development at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, eventually working in the School of Education at the University of South Carolina. She became committed to creating programs in Health Education and moved on to the SC Department of Education. At the SCDE Office of Curriculum and Standards, she served as the Director for Grants from the CDC, and the HIV/AIDs School Education Project. She contributed to the National Project for AIDS Prevention, and she was a regular contributor to the CDC’s surveillance of health education in secondary schools. She was committed especially to developing and furthering programs in women and children’s health, contributing frequently to state programs authorized by the legislature. Over a nearly thirty-year career in education and public health, she worked in a variety of settings, from the local classroom to the state agency both in the US and abroad: as a teacher, school improvement consultant, teacher trainer, researcher, college professor, public health project director and state education agency curriculum consultant. She was an advocate for SC children and adolescents in reducing infant mortality and teen pregnancy and promoting comprehensive school health education. In her retirement, she and her husband Jim spent several months of each year in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she especially enjoyed the misty winter weather, communal gardens, the annual Festival, and touring the many distilleries of single malt scotch with family and old friends. Cherished mother to Alison, Jamie, and John, Joanne is survived by her devoted husband, Jim, her sons, and five grandchildren: Grant, Joshua, Nick, Isla, and James. She is also survived by her loving siblings, Sue Walker of Richardson, TX, Lynne Giallombardo of Brunswick, ME, and Jay Giallombardo of Jacksonville, FL. She was predeceased by her parents, Joe and Edith Giallombardo, and her daughter, Alison Fraser. A memorial service will take place at Bush River Memorial Gardens, 5400 Bush River Rd. Columbia, SC 29212 on May 22, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please contribute to an organization Joanne supported: Planned Parenthood at www.weareplannedparenthood.org SPLC at https://donate.splcenter.org WWF at https://support.worldwildlife.org SCETV at https://etvendowment.thankyou4caring.org/