JoAnne Elliott Hill McCormick, 86, of Huntsville, Alabama, passed away peacefully at her home on October 8th. JoAnne was born on July 30, 1940, in Huntsville, Alabama, to Joseph Sigmon Elliott and Hazel Murphee Elliott.
She graduated from Decatur High School, where she was named Miss Maid of Cotton. She attended Judson College during her freshman year before graduating from Howard College in Birmingham, now known as Samford University. She went on to earn her master’s degree from the University of Alabama and taught for many years in the Huntsville City school system, at Stone Middle School and Ed White Middle School. JoAnne was deeply involved in civic life in Huntsville, including her work with the Huntsville Alabama Beautification Board. She was a founding member of the Gothic Guild and also held leadership roles in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Early-Works Society, and the Huntsville Botanical Garden.
She was a dedicated member of the Democratic Party and served as a delegate to the National Convention in 1976 and again in 1980. JoAnne was a courageous and fearless woman overcoming leukemia with a bone marrow transplant in 1989 in Seattle Washington and multiple myeloma in 2014 with a stem cell transplant in Huntsville Alabama.
JoAnne was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph Sigmon Elliott and Hazel Murphee Elliott, her sister Marjorie Rutherford, and her son Joseph (Joey) Sumner and sister-in-law Sandra Elliott. She is survived by her husband, Edward L. McCormick, her son Johnny Sumner, her brother James Elliott, her grandchildren Danielle Sumner and Haley Sumner Garcia (Ryan), and her great-grandchildren Oceana Garcia and Odysseus Garcia.
Special thanks to her longtime caregiver and friend, Patti Hammett, and oncologist, Doctor Jeremy Hon, caregiver Marie Butterworth, Amedisys Hospice Care, and Home Instead caregiving.
Graveside service will be held Friday, October 16, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. at Decatur City Cemetery. The family will receive friends Friday morning at Decatur Brown Service Funeral Home from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. A celebration of life will be held at the Double Tree Banquet Room in Decatur, Alabama following the graveside service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cancer Society and Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Decatur Brown Service Funeral Home is honored to serve the McCormick Family.
