Mildred Minnie Padesky

"Mildred Minnie Padesky, 84 of La Crosse died peacefully at home in her sleep on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Mom went to be reunited with Jack, her loving husband of 59 years. We hope the song is wrong (In Heaven There Is No Beer!) and he is waiting for Mom with a couple of ice cold ones! She was born in the family farmhouse in Sparta, Wisconsin to William and Ella (Pfaff) Yeske on December 16, 1928. The doctors model T got stuck coming up the hill and when he finally walked in Mildred Minnie had already arrived and was looking around for her first adventure. She was baptized on April 14, 1929 and confirmed on May 16, 1943. Mildred was a deeply religious woman who never feared death knowing she was baptized and confirmed in the House of The Lord.

Millie left the farm at the age of 13 and began working In the Sparta Drug Store as a sales person and soda jerk. She later returned to Sparta High School and graduated alongside her two younger sisters, Erma and Ella. It was shortly after that when she met the love of her life, Jack C. Padesky. They were married on September 9, 1952. They had two sons, David and Gary. Millie loved hard work and she loved people. She worked in customer service and sales her whole life; from the soda fountain at the drug store, as a cosmetics sales girl at Ford Hopkins, as a waitress at the old Cavalier Restaurant in downtown La Crosse, at the Holiday Inn that once occupied Barrons Island, and as the owner of Shimshaks Tavern. She cherished the friends and memories she acquired while operating Shimshaks and loved working side by side with her husband Jack and her son Gary. Upon retiring from the tavern business she started doing volunteer work at the Salvation Armys Thrift Store. She loved the people she worked with there and felt especially connected to the customers. Weather permitting, she still enjoyed going to the store to visit with old friends and make new ones. Mom also really enjoyed deer hunting and being with family and friends while going after those big Dutch Creek bucks. She was an excellent wild game cook and had a lot of people over the years who didnt like venison come back for seconds and thirds of her venison chops. She loved dogs, her favorite being a white Labrador named Ace; a dog her son supposedly won in a card game in Georgia! The past year she delighted in her daily telephone conversations with her little sister, Ella Meier. The topics included the Brewers, who they both love, The Price is Right (whether or not the host was wearing a tie came up quite frequently), and of course the Wheel of Fortune.

Millie is survived by her sons; David and Gary (Kris) Padesky; grandchildren; Brenna, Beau, Bailey and Braeden Padesky; brother-in-law, Tom (Nancy) Padesky; sisters-in-law, Elsie Yeske and Jeanne Kneifl; sisters, Marjorie McMullin, Erma Gates and Ella Meier and many nieces and nephews. Mildred was very excited about granddaughter Brennas upcoming marriage to Sam Prestidge this July. She thought of Sam as a very special person and friend. In addition to her husband Jack, she was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Howard Yeske and Calvin Yeske; and infant brother, Leo Yeske;brothers-in-law, Jerry McMullin, Gerald Kneifl, S.E. Meier, Paul Sandman, Ernie Gates, Donald Padesky and Orlin Hanson; sisters-in-law, Jeanette Padesky and Cheryl Yeske; sister, Irene Hanson and a niece Mary Kneifl.

The family would like to extend a very special thank you to Pastor Pamperin at First Evangelical Lutheran Church where Mildred was a member for almost 60 years. Mom also had great neighbors who looked out for her with an extra special thank you to Roger Reinhart. Mildred will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Like her husband Jack, she enjoyed nothing better than being surrounded by the people she loved enjoying a glass of beer. She was extremely proud of her grandchildren and considered each of them a very special gift from God. We love you and will always miss you Queenie!

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, May 4th at First Ev. Lutheran Church in La Crosse with Rev. Richard Pamperin officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery, Bangor, Wis.. Friends and family may call at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services, 200 West Avenue South, La Crosse on Friday from 5-7 PM, and again at the church on Saturday from 10:00 AM until the time of services.