Senate adjourns in memory of Vallejo's Joanne Shivley

Adjourn in Memory: Joanne Shivley

I’d like to adjourn today in memory of Joanne Shivley, who died in November at the age of 92.

"Joanne Shivley doesn’t court ambivalence."

That was the lead sentence of a profile about her in the Vallejo Times-Herald in 2018 when she retired from the Vallejo City Council. 

Joanne was committed, direct, and tough, a bit like the city where she was born and raised, and where she stayed her entire life. People she served with over three terms on the City Council tended to have strong opinions. 

In their obituary, her family said she “gave her heart and soul to Vallejo.”

The arc of Joanne’s life spans much of Vallejo’s modern history. She graduated in 1949 during a growth boom created by World War II, when people came from all over the country and world to fill 50,000 new jobs at Mare Island building ships and submarines. 

Just 17 years old, Joanne took a job as a clerk at Bank of America, a business she described as still dominated by men. She had found her calling in banking. Years later she described herself as a “banker through and through.”

But then a challenge came that Joanne had not planned for. Polio was a scourge of post-war America, striking particularly hard at children and young people. She contracted the virus in 1951 and spent a long time in the hospital before returning to the Bank of America – this time in a wheelchair.

She could no longer walk, but Joanne quickly learned how to use her voice.

“Yes it made me a strong person,” she said of polio. “But it’s also given me the opportunity to pave the way for a lot of people, both in my career and in the political arena.”

Joanne spent nearly 50 years at the bank and rose to the rank of assistant vice president. She was married for 30 years to Hugh, who passed away in 1990. She drove her own car.

She also enjoyed a life full of family and outings to enjoy good food, plays and musical performances. 

On the City Council, Joanne pushed for the installation of wheelchair ramps at city intersections. She helped create Mare Island’s reuse plan after the Navy pulled out in 1996 – a plan that has made Mare Island a center of activity again today with new businesses, hundreds of new homes, arts organizations, and preserved historic buildings.

Joanne was put together, in full lipstick, with a smile on her face. She was nice, but she did not hesitate to speak her mind. She was the leading critic of successive city managers and argued that a controversial proposal to build a natural gas plant, which ultimately failed, should have been put to voters. 

Former Mayor Tony Intintoli served with Joanne on the City Council. He told the Vallejo Times-Herald that she had a “furious approach to city business” and was “very active and interested in all aspects of the city.”

Former Councilmember Dan Donahue, who served six years with Joanne, put it this way: “If you want to challenge her, you better know your business.” 

Every city needs champions like Joanne Shivley, people who are willing to give their time and energy even if it is exhausting, as it must have been for her sometimes. People who aren’t afraid to speak up for what they think is right, even if people don’t like it.

At a time when people move around so much, it is a remarkable to see someone devote themselves to a place for 92 years. Polio left her in a wheelchair, but that did not stop Joanne Schivley from standing strong for Vallejo.