Joanne Eschbach

Joanne Eschbach
April 20, 1929 – June 8, 2022
Marion, IN (Oelwein, IA) | Age 93

Joanne (Sorden) Eschbach, 93, of Marion, Indiana and previously of Oelwein, Iowa, died June 8, 2022.

Mrs. Eschbach was a former English and journalism teacher at Oelwein Senior High School, and worked at the Oelwein Daily Register, where her husband, Ernest E. Eschbach, was managing editor.

She was a past president of Oelwein Women’s Club and organized AAUW Chapter in Oelwein.

The Eschbachs purchased the News-Journal, North Manchester, IN, in October, 1966. Mrs. Eschbach was born April 20, 1929 near Webster, Iowa, to Glen H. and Ferne (Heaton) Sorden. Mrs. Eschbach moved to Winter Haven, Fla. in 1997 and to her daughter’s home in Indiana in 2013.

Survivors include her daughter, Mrs. David (Cynthia) Payne of Jonesboro, IN, who was formerly an executive editor and publisher for a group of newspapers in Indiana owned by Community Media Group, which also owns the ODR; granddaughters, Annette (Payne) Hoyt of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Lynnette (Lynne Payne).

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest, who died in 1989; son, Spencer Max, who died in August 1977; parents, two brothers and two sisters.

A private burial service was held at Sorden Cemetery, Webster, Iowa.