James Perron was born on December 15, 1951 in Ladysmith. He worked for the railroad, and was a factory worker but was most proud of being a musician. He played the guitar in a few local bands. He enjoyed classic rock music especially the Beatles. When Dr. Erickson heard that Jim liked the Beatles, he brought Jim a Beatles CD, that was a first for Dr. Erickson. Jim enjoyed talking about his band and remained close friends with some of the people he played with. He looked forward to going out for car rides with his friends from his band.
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James Perron was born on December 15, 1951 in Ladysmith. He worked for the railroad, and was a factory worker but was most proud of being a musician. He played the guitar in a few local bands. He enjoyed classic rock music especially the Beatles. When Dr. Erickson heard that Jim liked the Beatles, he brought Jim a Beatles CD, that was a first for Dr. Erickson. Jim enjoyed talking about his band and remained close friends with some of the people he played with. He looked forward to going out for car rides with his friends from his band.
Wanda Oleinik Proden was born in Exeland in 1922 to Konstatine and Stefania Oleinik. She traveled to many areas of the United States before marring Joseph Proden in 1946. They built a large dairy farm and raised their family of 3 children. Wanda loved cooking, gardening and going hunting with her son Dave. She loved her children, their spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren and she always had a meal ready. Wanda was so proud of her Polish heritage and loved to talk about cooking Polish food, especially Perogies. Every time I greeted her, I would ask her if she had a Perogy in her pocket, she would grin big and say “I had one, but I just ate it”. She had an absolutely amazing smile and a playful character. You wouldn’t know it sometimes as she would play “sleep”, but if you told her you were tossing a beach ball her way, she would wake up at the last second to catch the ball, laugh and throw it to someone else. Once when we were playing catch, she missed and I squatted down to take the ball and she kicked me in the butt with a big smile on her face! She liked coffee with cream, and ketchup on almost everything. We all loved Wanda so much. I asked her “Do you know why your name is Wanda?” She said “No”. And I told her that her name was Wanda, because she was “Wandaful”! We also called her the “puzzle lady”, because she loved to do puzzles. She loved Johnny Cash and back scratches.
Esther Larsen Rands was born in a log house north of Bruce on the Chippewa River. She attended the one-room Thornapple school with aspirations to become a teacher herself, but had to discontinue her education in 8th grade when the Great Depression struck, as she was needed to help at home and with their family farm. In her late teens, she moved to Chicago IL and worked at the Stewart Warner defense factory making radios, artillery, big equipment and airplane engine parts. Two years later, she enlisted in the Woman’s Army Corps of the U.S. Army and served for 2 years as a truck driver both state side and overseas in Europe. She was stationed mainly in England and France, but also served in Germany, Italy and Belgium. Within 9 months after returning home, she met and married Maurice “Knute” Rands. Together they celebrated 70 wedding anniversaries! Throughout her lifetime, she was a wonderful wife, amazing mom, talented self-taught painter and artist, newspaper deliverer, town treasurer for 17 years, foster mother and a rail car switching operator. She was also very active at Hope Lutheran Church, where she attended Bible Study, taught Sunday school, quilted and helped prepare many meals. In addition to her family, Esther loved Jesus Christ, fishing, gardening, traveling and cooking. She would most like to be remembered as a loving, wise, giving, resourceful and creative person. Her life motto was, “Take one day at a time, without worry, knowing God is in control”.
Delaine Read was born on July 22, 1933 in McLaughlin SD.
She had many passions in her life: and was involved with
AARP, the Women’s Legion Auxiliary, the Red Hats Society
and manna meals. She loved collecting recipes, birds and
horses, but her number one passion was
shopping at Walmart and Connections.
She loved to make beaded bracelets
and gave them to everyone. She also
liked to color and her walls were
decorated with her pictures. She
loved to be outdoors, go for walks,
cats and attending activities and
she dearly loved her family. Our
Lake Manor staff miss her
“feisty” personality.
Audrey Kunkel Riphenburg was born in rural Ladysmith to Ryan & Rosa Kunkel. She graduated from UW-Eau Claire, where she received a B.S. in education. After graduation she taught junior high English and science in Tony, New Richmond, Hammond and Roberts. Following her marriage to Al Riphenburg in 1962, she moved to Conrath to his dairy farm and was a wife, mother and farmer. The couple worked hard to build and expand their dairy from a few parcels of land to its current size of 1,000 acres. They built one of the first milking parlors in the state of WI. Audrey and Al loved traveling and made frequent trips all over the country and world and have traveled to places on every continent. Audrey always had stories to tell about her travels as that was her passion and favorite thing to do above all else. She loved to write and self-published 4 books about herself, her husband, her travels and random writings. One of her books, “If These Spoons Could Talk” highlighted spoons she had collected from the places she traveled and shared stories of her experiences. Audrey belonged to the Writer’s Exchange and enjoyed keeping in contact with friends and organized yearly class reunions for her high school graduating class. Audrey was full of worldwide knowledge and experiences. She had a fun; loving sense of humor and we always enjoyed her input in our activity programs. She would surprise us by singing an old song, telling a funny story, or creating a creative project. Audrey also enjoyed genealogy, attending St. John’s Lutheran Church, crossword puzzles, but her pride and joy were her two grandchildren.
Gerald Selvig was born in Ashland, his family moved to Ladysmith when he was 2 years old. He attended Ladysmith schools and enjoyed playing football and basketball. He met his wife Cathy Groothousen, at Club 8, where her friends left her stranded so Jerry could give her a ride home. They were married and raised their family of nine children, recently celebrating their 65-wedding anniversary. Jerry always said that Cathy was the best thing that ever happened to him. Jerry worked with the city of Ladysmith street crew, serving as the Ladysmith Street Superin-tendent for 33 years. He was involved in many projects benefiting the city of Ladysmith, some of his favorites include the Memorial Park volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, basketball courts and making beach and playground improvements. Jerry started the annual Ladysmith Mardi Gras Horseshoe Tournament. He assisted in transforming O.J. Falge Park on Corbett Lake into a beautiful park, the aerator, which puts oxygenated water into the lake was Jerry’s design. He was also honored with having a baseball field at the fairgrounds named after him as “Jerry Selvig Ball Field”. Jerry served in the National Guard for 9 years, was a member of the Lions Club for many years, and served as a volunteer for the Ladysmith Fire Department. He was a lifelong member of OLS, enjoyed swimming, fishing, hunting, canoeing, golfing, bowling, and playing cards. He was an avid fan of the Packers, Badgers, Brewers and Bucks. Jerry was a spit fire! He loved listening to Johnny Cash and kept time to the music. When you would greet him, he always responded with a great smile and say “Hi Sweetheart”.
Norman Skabroud was born in 1936 in Ladysmith to Frank and Katherine Skabroud. He grew up above the Pioneer Cheese Factory in Jump River. He married Marlene Ogle in 1956, they were married for 63 years, and had 6 children. He worked in Milwaukee for a few years and in 1959 the couple purchased his parent’s grocery store in Jump River. The family ran the store for the next 52 years. In 1985, Norman built a grocery store in Sheldon after tearing down the old Brown’s Store. This store that he started continues to be owned and operated by family members. Norman loved to play baseball and sponsored the “Norms” softball team for 43 years. He drove school bus for 23 years, was a founder of the Jump River Fire Department, a member of the restoration committee of the Jump River Community Center, a Gilman school board member, and a 4-H leader. Norman’s faith was important to him and he was an active member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheldon. He enjoyed hunting, snowmobiling and spending time with his family, especially the little ones. He was proud of his children, 24 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. Norman had a loving, dedicated wife who visited every day, they spent all of their days together. When she came into the room, it was clear by the expression on his face that he was in love with her. He was such a sweet gentle man, and he had beautiful eyes. He loved polka music and when we danced his smile would light up the room, it warmed our hearts.
Vonnie Jones Strop was born on May 24, 1924 to Lester and Orpha Jones in Ladysmith. She grew up in the Conrath area and graduated from Tony high school. After graduation she moved to Eau Claire and worked for Presto Industries manufacturing ammunition for WWII. In 1946 she married Edward Strop in a candle-light service at the United Church of Christ in Ladysmith where they proceeded to reside and raise their family of three daughters and a son. She held various jobs in Ladysmith from Burt’s Book and Stationary Store to the Rusk County ASCS office. She was also a Girl Scout leader, member of the local order of the Eastern Star, election volunteer, and enjoyed playing cards, golf and was a crafter. She and Eddie were well known for contributing crafts to the Holiday Walk. She was a fan of the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, local sports and enjoyed attending her children & grandchildren’s sporting events. Most importantly she was very close with her sisters and their families. The three couples spent much time together raising their families and creating lasting memories. Vonnie enjoyed sleep overs at her daughter’s homes, and often talked about family pot luck picnics at Memorial Park, where everyone would just bring whatever they had in their refrigerators, she said “you never knew what combinations you were going to be eating”. Vonnie will be remembered for her kindness and compassion toward everyone she met.
Sr. Mary John VanderLoop, OSM, the former Loretta Elizabeth VanderLoop was born on a farm east of Ladysmith on June 5, 1918, she was the third of 13 children. She was the valedictorian of her high school class in 1937. She earned a teaching certificate from Rusk County Normal School, an RN from St. Francis School of Nursing, and a BSN from the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth. She entered the Servants of Mary on 1941 and professed final vows in 1948, serving on the leadership team for 13 years, and shared her life with for 79 years. She was the director of nursing at St Mary’s Hospital and St. Joseph on the Flambeau Nursing Home. She helped open St. Mary’s Kewaunee Area Memorial Hospital in 1959 and served there as administrator and director of nursing. She retired from health care in 1985 and turned her attention to peace and justice ministry. She was a founding member of the Flambeau Valley Peace Coalition, a member of the Servite Justice and Peace Committee, and a district coordinator for Bread for the World and NETWORK. She served on the board of the Superior Diocesan Council of Catholic Women as consultant for the International Affairs Commission. She traveled to El Salvador in 1993 with the Pastors of Peace, bringing material aid to that war-torn country. Well into her 90s, she was sharing Gospel wisdom on WLDY radio. In 1996 the Wisconsin Housing Ministry Partnership named the Mary John VanderLoop Villa in Minocqua, WI, after her in recognition for her public leadership and help with people in need.
Donna Vanwinkle was born in 1932 in Milwaukee. She had 2 sons and lived in Winter for many years near her son and daughter in law, and had strong family support. She worked in food service. Donna was a member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church and her faith was important to her, she took pride in saying the rosary every day. Donna also loved to play cribbage & played pinochle with a friend every week and then looked forward to go out for lunch after. She was an avid reader, enjoyed crossword puzzles and watching sports on TV especially the Packers. She also took pride in going for a 2 ½ mile walk every day. Donna belonged to TOPS for 6 years. Although she referred to herself as being reclusive, she enjoyed visiting with staff and was so appreciative of getting good care.
James Marcus Weisenberger was born in Lacrosse. He had 10 siblings and grew up in Arcadia. One of Jim’s proudest moments was his military service. When he first went into the military, even though he had polio when he was young and had to wear a leg brace, a Post Commander ruled in his favor to let him stay in the military and serve his country. He married Audrey Pelowski; they attended the same school in Arcadia. Audrey saw his name in the newspaper that said he was stationed in Germany so she decided to send him a Christmas card. When he came home, he asked her for a date, they soon fell in love and were married in 1956 in Wuaman-dee, WI. They had 6 children. The family came to Ladysmith in 1968. Jim owned and operated Wiesenberger’s Reality. He became the President of the Ladysmith Industrial Development Corp and was instrumental in many projects, such as the Northridge Meadows Subdivision, the riverside addition on the south side of Ladysmith, and the River Heights Villa Subdivision by the Tee A Way. With partners, Jim developed and operated the 54-unit Greenwood Manor. He also helped with locating the WITC satellite, and Kwik Trip. Jim was a real gentleman; he was nice to everyone. He was so concerned about Audrey; his face would light up when she walked in the room. We all felt honored to have known him. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, brother and a friend to all. Moreover, he was a man of great integrity, generosity, entrepreneurial spirit and had a smile that shined brighter than a full moon!
Tyrus Westlund spent most of his life in the Conrath/Sheldon area. He and his wife Linda, had 2 children. They later divorced but remained good friends. Ty enjoyed spending time with family and friends. His grandkids meant the world to him. He loved babysitting them any chance he got. He would take them for long walks, bike rides, swimming and for car rides at a snail’s pace. Nap times was one of his favorite times because he enjoyed cuddling with them. His snore probably put the kids to sleep. When he wasn’t with his family, he could be found fishing, hunting, playing cards or relaxing watching old westerns. Ty was a hard worker throughout his life. Many times, having two or three jobs at a time. He was always there when someone needed a hand or a shoulder to cry on and had a heart of gold. Ty and his loud laugh are truly missed by everyone who’s life was touched with his kindness. One thing Ty always said was “you shouldn’t be sad when someone dies, you should be happy for them because they are going home”.
Kenneth Zimmer was born in 1929 to John & Lillian Zimmer in
Ladysmith. He was mechanically inclined when he was a boy. At
the age of 16 he completely built a tractor, from scratch,
improving on it and adding onto it throughout the years. It was
used for snow removal and logging throughout his life. For
several years Ken played baseball with the Tony
Village baseball team (Pre-Hayshaker
League). He was drafted during the
Korean War and served in the United
States Army from 1951-1953, spending
a year in Paris, France. Ken built the
house that he and his wife Kathy
would raise their 5 children. He began
his career at the Rusk County
Highway Department in 1963, as a
mechanic and later retired in 1994
as the Rusk County Highway
Commissioner. Ken was a doer
with a strong work ethic. He was a
modest, wise man, whose Catholic
faith was very important to him. He had a great sense of humor,
and was quick witted. He was a good listener, a problem solver,
the kind of man you could go to for advice or comfort if needed.
