Obit: Guenther, Joan M. (1930 – 2021)

Transcriber: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Guenther, Imre, Gorman, Johnson

Source: Tribune/Record/Gleaner (Abbotsford, WI) 17 Nov 2021

Guenther, Joan M. (25 Jul 1930 – 4 Nov 2021)

Joan Marie Imre Guenther was born on July 25, 1930, and died on Nov. 4, 2021.

Joan was born in the lean years of the Depression and lived her early life in New London. She married Clair Gorman and soon welcomed their daughter Susan. He died at age 26 from an undiagnosed strep throat that led to kidney failure, leaving her to move in with her mother in Waupaca. There, at a bar where her mother cooked, she met Steve Imre. Theirs would be a long and loving union, but filled with multiple moves, a catastrophic barn fire, her working as either a secretary, and, in the middle and later years, operating restaurants with her husband Steve, the last one in Greenwood. They found a little house in Willard and that is where they settled, with Steve passing in 2001. It was the longest place she ever lived in her life, and it was truly her home. Soon a certain parishioner caught her eye and they started to sit together in church, the congregation watching their romance blossom. Joan and Bill Guenther were united in marriage in October 2003 and sadly, he passed away in 2009. She was a force of joy, determined to do her absolute best, and such a devoted Catholic. She traveled the world with her Catholic group, taking in a safari in Africa, climbing the great wall of China, riding a camel in Dubai, petting kangaroos in Australia, attending Mass at the Vatican with the Pope, hiking Machu Picchu, touring Europe more than once, marveling at fiords in Norway and the Russian arts at the Hermitage, and seeing most of America. That’s not bad for a poor little girl from New London.

A funeral Mass will be held on Friday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m., at Holy Family Catholic Church in Willard, with Rev. Leo Johnson officiating. Visitation will be held before Mass at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to Holy Family Church, where Joan was a strong proponent of lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness.