JoAnn Choi Pottberg died peacefully on April 13, 2021 in Palo Alto, CA, one day shy of her 80th birthday. Family and friends gathered to celebrate her life and honor her milestone birthday!
JoAnn is survived by her husband, Thomas Lee Pottberg; children, Stefania Pomponi of Palo Alto, CA; Peter Pomponi of Eugene, OR; Camille Paldi of Palo Alto, CA; and Jill Paldi and her partner Humberto Bracho of Palo Alto, CA; her grandchildren, Isabella and Massimo (Peter); Anouk, Wallis and Dashiell (Stefania); Paloma and Severin (Jill); and her brother, Cedric Choi, and his wife, Patricia of Honolulu, HI. She is preceded in death by her parents, Wilbert and Flora Choi, and her brother, James Choi.
JoAnn was born in Honolulu, HI to Wilbert and Flora Choi. She graduated from Punahou School, and after spending a year at Simmons College in Boston, MA, returned to Hawai’i to finish her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of Hawai’i. JoAnn lived in Rome, Italy; Honolulu, HI, where she had her children; then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981. There, she met and married her best friend, Tom Pottberg, in 1987. JoAnn and Tom founded Met One Instruments, Inc., in 1989, and moved to Grants Pass, OR to establish their business. She loved taking care of clients, and thrived in the innovative startup culture.
JoAnn’s curiosity and sense of adventure was the guiding force of her life. She believed there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do. She kept up with decorative arts, fashion, and technology, and loved updating her Instagram account with photos of her grandchildren, and sharing funny TikToks via text with her family. She traveled all over the world, but held a special place in her heart for Italy. She was fluent in Italian, and loved spending time in Rome, eating, shopping, and visiting family.
She was a generous person who loved gathering with her friends and family, and making a new friend out of anyone she met. She could talk to anyone, and genuinely wanted to know everything about them. If she believed in you, you knew it.
The family would like to thank their extended o’hana for their kindness and loving support.
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