Joanne Eileen Mertz

Joanne Eileen Johnson Mertz, 93, has passed along to meet with her loving husband R.E. “Bud” Mertz, at Heavens Gate on July 2, 2024. Joanne was born in 1931 in Greensburg to the late Vincent W. and Angeline V. (Weightman) Johnson. She was preceded in death by her husband, R.E. “Bud” Mertz; daughter, Virginia E. “Ginger” Mertz; sisters, Blanche, Vera, Helen, and; brothers, Dwight and Richard. 

Joanne graduated from Greensburg High School in 1949, after which she went on to study nursing at Seton Hill College and Westmoreland Hospital School of Nursing. Joanne worked as a Registered Nurse for Westmoreland and Monsour Hospitals. 

Joanne worked alongside her husband, Bud, for 55 years with their Greensburg business, Mertz Television. 

Joanne remained active in the emergency nursing throughout her life and was instrumental in the formation of the Mutual Aid Ambulance Service in Greensburg. The late J. Edward Hutchinson, Greensburg Fire Chief appointed Joanne to serve as the emergency nursing director for the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department, where she led the Fire Department’s annual health fair and their annual blood drive. In the early 1960’s Joanne along with the late Dr. Ameene Makdad created the Greater Greensburg Medical Disaster Unit, in which Joanne led a team of nurses that responded to mass causality disaster incidents throughout Westmoreland County. In 2006 the City of Greensburg Council and the Greensburg Fire Department awarded Joanne with the Leo Bacha Memorial Humanitarian Award. Her other volunteer activities included the American Red Cross, the Westmoreland County Nurses Assoc., and the Baltzer Meyer Historical Society.

Besides Ginger, Joanne was the proud mother of Sandra (Bert) Young, Roland “Buddy” (Kathy) Mertz, and special additional daughter, Cheryl (Jim) Millward. She was also the loving grandmother for Daniel (Liz) Mertz, Gregory (Janelle) Mertz, and Katie Lynn (Matt) Sheridan, as well as being the sweetest great-grandmother to Julia, Murphy, Abigail, April, Jake, and Bennett. 

The family wishes to thank the amazing staff at St. Anne’s Home Greensburg, and Excela Hospice for their loving care.

Family and friends will be received from 4 to 8pm on Friday, July 5, 2024 at KEPPLE-GRAFT Funeral Home 524 N. Main Street, Greensburg. Services will be held in the funeral home on Saturday, July 6, 2024 at 9:30am. Interment will follow in Hillview Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Greensburg Fire Department Board of Control, 416 S Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601, an organization that Joanne dedicated her life for. 

For full obituary, online condolences and information, please visit www.kepplegraft.com.