Joanne Steckler

Joanne (Jo) Novick Steckler was born at Israel Zion hospital in Brooklyn, NY on October 10, 1945 to Martha Graff and Irving Novick. She is survived by her husband of 59 years Daniel Steckler; her sister, Sharon Sorken; her children Rachel OConnell (Brendan), Scott Steckler (Hilleary); her five grandchildren Ella Steckler Yates (Justin), Olivia Steckler, Josh Steckler, Charlie Tribble, and Zack Tribble; a sister-in-law Susan Schwartz (Sandy), a brother-in-law Larry Steckler; and two nieces, a nephew, and cousins.

Jo grew up in Brooklyn until the age of 10 when her family moved to Oceanside on Long Island, NY. She was a counselor at the Malibu Beach Club., where she met Dan Steckler. Jo asked Dan to be her date to the Sadie Hawkins dance in September 1961. A month later she invited him to her Sweet Sixteen party and they were a couple after that.

Dan went away to college at Drexel in Philadelphia in 1962. While they were able to date other people while separated, they were exclusive in the summers. Jo commuted to Queens College in NYC because they offered free tuition for people who wanted to become teachers due to a teacher shortage. Fortunately they never met anyone they'd rather be with and were engaged in 1966. They got married in 1967 after they both finished college. That summer Dan started a job with Hamilton Standard in Hartford, CT and Jo started her first teaching job in the Windsor Locks school district teaching 1st grade.

In 1970, Rachel Michelle Steckler was born June 2, right at the end of the school year, so Jo did not return to teaching. About six months later, she was pregnant again with Scott Evan Steckler. Dan's good friend had gotten a job with the government in the DC area and convinced him to apply. He got a job with the Department of Agriculture and the three Stecklers (Scott still in-utero) moved to the suburbs of DC. After a few scary months of uncertainty about his job and even applying for unemployment, Dan finally started at the Department of Agriculture. Scott was born on September 20, 1971 at Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland. The next year, Dan and Jo moved to their first house in Silver Spring, MD.

In 1974, Jo decided to go back to work. She started as an instructional assistant and became a first grade teacher the next year. The school, Colesville Elementary, closed after Jo worked there for 3 years. She was hired as a teacher at Olney Elementary with a very unique design: there were 2 grade levels (2nd and 3rd) and two teachers (Jo and Debbie Ambrose) with about 60 students in an open classroom using an interdisciplinary concept around the arts. Jo and Debbie did this for 8 years, often moving with their students to the next grade level. Jo also got her master's degree in Human Development while teaching and raising children. Later she also received her accreditation for school administration.

When the principal from Olney moved to Burtonsville ES, Jo moved with her. She no longer was able to do the open classroom model, so after the principal retired, Jo moved to Rolling Terrace Elementary as a Curriculum Specialist. Since she had the accreditation, she became a principal intern after one year. The following year she was hired as principal of Highland View ES, where she stayed until 2004.

In 1994, Rachel married Scott Tribble and two year later, Scott married Hilleary Fauber. Scott and Hilleary's first child, and Dan and Jo's first grandchild, Ella Rose was born in 1999. In 2001, the family increased by three, with the birth of twins Joshua Max and Olivia Beth Steckler on August 1 and Charlie Monroe Tribble on December 13. Izaac (Zack) Hudson Tribble came along right before Jo retired, on May 12, 2004. Rachel and Scott Tribble divorced in 2006, and Rachel was remarried to Brendan OConnell in 2014. Jo and Dan gained three step grandchildren, Mairin, Keagan, and Logan OConnell.

After retirement, Jo didn't immediately stop working. She continued doing projects on a part-time contractual basis for Montgomery County Public Schools. Jo and Dan, who both loved visiting Las Vegas, also decided to buy a condo and spent time in both Maryland and Vegas. Jo developed breast cancer in 2007, but was very fortunate to only need a lumpectomy and radiation and the cancer never returned.

Jo always loved dogs! She had several growing up and bought a golden retriever puppy named Casey in the early 1980s. After Case died ,Jo and Dan got another golden named Chaney, who only lived to be 8. They weren't planning on getting another dog, but then saw a breed called Hungarian Vizsla and fell in love. They got Max as a puppy and he entertained them and drove them nuts at the same time! Max lived to 14 and Dan and Jo swore they they would not get any more dogs. Instead, they started fostering with an organization called Puppy Paws Rescue. Jo found Jetta, a sweet brown mutt dog, for Rachel's family. Fortunately, they fell in love with one of the foster dogs named Robo (renamed Ace afterwards) and decided to keep him.

Jo was very passionate about keeping up with politics in the news. She loved her country and believed in democracy. Whenever someone walked into their house, either CNN, MS Now, or sports was on the TV (Jo loved baseball, hockey, and football). She was very disappointed when Donald Trump became president in 2016. He didn't follow the protocol that presidents should and she saw how this affected so many Americans in negative ways. In March of 2020, Jo and Dan were in Las Vegas and became stuck there due to the Covid pandemic. By June, they were itching to go home, so they masked up and took a chance. Jo had developed asthmatic COPD in 2017 and was worried about how Covid could hurt her. Since Donald Trump messed up the Covid response and in 2021, Joe Biden was voted into office. In early 2021, Jo was able to get her Covid vaccines and her life returned to near normal. Anyone who knew her saw her passion for democracy and her disgust over Trump's handling of just about everything.

Unfortunately, COPD is a degenerative disease and continued to get worse. She still had a normal life for the most part, she just relied more and more on oxygen as the years continued. After a decline in 2025, she started to feel much in late September/early October 2025. She and her grandchildren, children, and Dan were able to celebrate her 80th birthday weekend at restaurants. In the late fall of 2025, Jo decided to go to Vegas one last time to pack up her clothes and other items. While she was there, the COPD took at toll on her, and Dan and Jo returned early to Maryland. From January to June 2026, Jo's health continued to decline. Sadly, she wasn't able to attend her first grandchild's wedding in Baltimore, but got to see Ella's beautiful dress in person and watch the ceremony live on FaceTime. She died peacefully at home, holding her husband's hand, on their 59th wedding anniversary, June 18, 2026.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life https://evite.me/gvkpU7sXB5

We are looking at options for a memorial bench for Highland View ES. Details to come if you are interested in contributing.