A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the United Methodist Church, 508 2nd Ave N., Clear Lake, with the Rev. Jan Burnett officiating.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel.
According to her wishes, her body has been donated to the University of Iowa.
A graveside service will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery in Mason City at a later date.
Memorials may be given to Muse-Norris Hospice of North Iowa, The Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, Central Gardens of North Iowa, the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, American Cancer Society, or the Clear Lake Arts Council in memory of Jo Ann Sedars.
Jo Ann Sedars was born Aug. 8, 1946, in Mason City, the daughter of Orvis Richard and Roma Jane (Routh) Sedars.
She graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1964 and received an A.A. degree from Stephens College, Columbia, Mo., in 1966.
Jo was the candidate representing Clear Lake for the North Iowa Band Festival Queen in 1964, and this year attended the reunion for the past Festival queens.
In July of 1964, she was named "Miss Smile USA" representing Younkers and the state of Iowa and won a 1964½ Mustang which she still owned. For the following two years, she traveled the United States representing Jantzen Sports Wear.
Jo married Larry J. Alexander on Aug. 26, 1966, in Columbia, Mo. and to this union two sons, Joseph Andrew "Andy" and Jason Sedars Alexander were born.
While living in Houston, Texas, and following their divorce in 1976, she began a career in many areas including banking, marketing for True Distance Inc., which involved her in a project involving the 1980 Winter Olympics, F & I (finance and insurance) for an auto dealership and administrative assistant for a geologist for Texas Gulf Elf Aquitine Oil and Gas Co.
In August of 1985, Jo moved back to her beloved Clear Lake and was able to spend precious time with her parents preceding their deaths.
She worked for Sedars Auto Park doing F & I work part-time. For approximately five years she owned and operated the Sedars National Car Rental Agency.
Jo had shared the joy of being a mother and grandmother, keeping in touch with Andy's and Jason's active lives and enjoyed finding special seasonal gifts for her three grandchildren, the children of Andy and Stephanie - Madison, Victoria and Garrett.
Some of her favorite times were vacations with them including their most recent trip of October 2003 on a cruise to the Western Caribbean.
Jo had been a member and officer of the T.T.T. Society, Chapter AQ, P.E.O. Chapter LE, The Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, The Clear Lake Arts Council, and 21st Century Club.
Other club memberships included Clear Lake Yacht Club and Questers (Whittaker's Pier) Club.
Jo was a member of the Clear Lake United Methodist Church.
Jo will be missed by a community she embraced. She was always seen on her long walks, strolling down mainstreet, in her favorite shops and restaurants and taking boat rides around the lake. Her love and dedication to Clear Lake was felt by many friends.
Jo's belief in body and organ donations is her last gift to the American Cancer Society and medical community. It is the "Gift of Life" to let her body be taken to help others to have a chance at a better life.
In her spare time, Jo enjoyed dancing, Jazzercise, decorating, walking, gardening (even on her deck), music, art, spending time with her friends, traveling and warm beaches. True to her parent's heritage, she loved driving her cars.
Jo is survived by sons, J. Andrew Alexander of Keller, Texas, and wife Stephanie and their children, Madison, Victoria, and Garrett; son, Jason Alexander, of Maple Grove, Minn.; Aunt Martha Lore, Jo's mother's only surviving sister (Kalona); brother, Jerry Sedars and his wife Debbie and nephews, Jayme (and wife Trisha), Travis and Dusty (and wife Deb).
Jo was preceded in death by her parents, Orvis Richard Sedars and Roma Jane Sedars.
