Joanne Lenora Brown

Joanne Lenora Brown, 74, of Dakota, Minn., passed away on Wednesday, December 23, 2015, at the Mayo Health System in Rochester.
She was born August 14, 1941, in La Crosse, to Fred and Lenora (Stahr) Papenfuss. Joanne attended Nodine and La Crescent elementary schools and was a 1958 graduate of La Crosse Central High School. On May 6, 1961, she married Richard “Dick” Brown.
In her younger years, Joanne worked as a waitress (on roller skates) at the La Crescent Root Beer Stand. She also worked as a secretary at Trane Company in La Crosse, as a lunchroom supervisor at the Dakota Elementary School, and also as a teller and receptionist at the La Crescent State Bank, all while raising her family and assisting with the family farm as a bookkeeper and by driving tractor and feeding the calves. Joanne also volunteered as a Sunday School Teacher and Lutheran Girl Pioneer Leader at First Lutheran Church in La Crescent and as a Key Leader for the Dakota 4-H Club. She was active in the Winona County Dairy Princess program, the Dakota PTA, and the Luther High Auxiliary, serving as that organization’s President. She was currently a member of St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church in Nodine where she was a member of the Ladies Aid.
Joanne was a talented cross-stitcher and quilter and this past summer her quilt won grand champion at the Winona County Fair. She was also known for making amazing pies. Joanne was an avid gardener who always had a large vegetable garden and beautiful flowers. She recently began tub gardening, growing many herbs to use in her cooking. She enjoyed ice skating, bike riding, watching movies and her favorite TV shows, playing 500, and was a lifetime member of La Crescent’s Card Club. Joanne loved her swing, and her children and grandchildren have many fond memories of singing and talking with her there.
She is survived by her husband Richard of 54 years and their children, Sandy (Bill) Brauer, Kristi (Russ) Traxler, and David (Rachel) Brown, and by her grandchildren, Nathan, Trevor (Ying), Clay and Alivia Fuhrman, Trent, Tracy and Troy Traxler, and Levi and Austin Brown. She was preceded in death by her parents, and an infant brother David.
Memorial services will be held on Monday, December 28, 2015 at 11:00 AM at St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Nodine. Pastor Dennis Harbach will officiate. Friends may call at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral & Cremation Services, 111 So. Oak Street, on Sunday from 4:00 – 7:00 PM and at the church on Monday from 10:00 AM until the time of services. Memorials may be given to St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church and School, Luther High School, or the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation.