Joanna Sawyer, 52, of Midland, walked through the shadow of death and into the light of eternity, on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. Family will receive friends on Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home in Midland. Funeral service will be held on Friday, November 19, 2010 at 10:00 A.M., at the First Baptist Church in Stanton with Leondro Gonzales officiating. Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Stanton. Joanna was born on August 28, 1958 to James Sawyer, who preceded her in death in 1995, and Donna Womack-Sawyer in Seminole, Texas. She graduated in 1976 from Grady High. After high school she received a basketball scholarship at Howard College while earning her Associate's degree in nursing. She attended West Texas State University and finished her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1980. She worked as an RN for 20 years before retiring to concentrate on her passion as an artist and work with her mother at the Ivy Cottage in Midland. Through the years she worked at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, CA, Midland Memorial Hospital, Odessa Medical Center Hospital, Texas Medical School, and she was a nursing instructor at Amarillo College.Joanna loved animals and in particular her dogs Charlie, Shiloh, Fonda and Kit.Survivors include her mother, Donna Womack-Sawyer of Midland; sister, Darla and husband Steve Poole of Troy AL; brother Tony and wife Wendy Sawyer of Lenorah; two nephews, David C. Saunders, and James Dusty Saunders of Midland; and niece, Savannah Nicole Sawyer of Lenorah. Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences can be made at: www.npwelch.com,