Jo Anne Clendening

Durham – Jo Anne Neely Clendening, age 74, died in Durham, NC on August 17th, 2023. She was born on September 28th, 1948 in Washington, DC to the late James Curtis Neely and Lois Lorraine McKelvey Neely.

Most of her childhood was spent in New England, where she graduated from Marblehead High School in Marblehead, MA. She later earned her associates degree in a business program at Chandler School for Women in Boston, MA.

Jo Anne spent some time as a stay-at-home mom, but also worked several clerical and administrative jobs, including her favorite job as the Training Coordinator for the NC Dept of Environment and Natural Resources for NC State Parks. For many years she traveled extensively to many of the NC state parks and instilled in her family a love for the state parks of NC.

She was a lover of the outdoors and enjoyed skiing, boating and tennis as a young woman. She also loved camping, exploring and was always up for a walk in the woods or a stroll on the beach. Her greatest joy was gardening, where she spent many an hour watching programs, reading books and putting to use all that she learned into her many gardens.

Most importantly, Jo Anne loved the Lord with all her heart and with all her soul and with all her strength. Rarely would you find her without a Bible nearby, stuffed full of notes and highlights, accompanied by a library of works about the Bible. Some of her final words were, “I’m about to experience Revelation first hand”. She was sad to be leaving her family, but she was happy to be going home.

Survived by her husband, Frank Clending; her children Benjamin Solomon, Silvia Angelica Solomon, David Solomon, Amy Solomon, Timothy Solomon, Meredith Solomon, Jared Solomon, Lauren Solomon, Mel Cledening, and Norma Avila. Her grandchildren; Grant Solomon (Grace Long), Jason Solomon, Kevin Solomon, Quinten Solomon, Kempton Solomon, Reinor Solomon, Amanda Avila Rios, Marin Basnight, and Cora Basnight. Her sister, Jeanni Snider (Ron) Her nephew Chad Snider and niece Heather Riley (John).

The Clendening family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service. Online condolences: www.hallwynne.com – select obituaries