John M. Landro

John M. Landro passed away peacefully at Mulder Health Care Facility in West Salem, WI, on January 22, 2021. He was born November 3, 1935 in Fremont, Minnesota to Meta (Simon) and Martin Landro. He grew up in Winona, Minnesota, and attended Winona State University, earning 2 bachelor’s degrees (Business/Education) and a Master’s in Education, also from Winona State. He taught at high schools in Highland and Menomonie, Wisconsin. Moving to La Crosse in 1968, he taught in the business department and served as the Business Department Head at Western Technical College until his retirement in May 1999. He married Beverly Lanz on August 12,1961; they had four children, Kathy, Kim, Jeff, and Jason. After Bev’s passing, he married Diane Kempter on November 28, 1992.

Survivors include his wife, Diane, of Holmen, WI, daughters Kathy (Kerry) Shannon of Ankeny, Iowa, and Kim (Tom) Garrison of Madison, WI, sons Jeff (Candie) Landro of Rochester, MN, and Jason (Alicia) Landro of Madison, WI, stepdaughters Jen Kooistra of Oregon, WI, Aimee Derra of La Crosse, WI, and Liz (Ben) Leuenberger of La Crosse, WI. Grandchildren are Kevin (Ashley Wright) Shannon, Adam Shannon, Indigo Garrison, Joe Garrison, Ethan Landro, Owen Landro, Cody Derra, Theo Kooistra and Arthur Kooistra, his brother Ken (Karen) Landro of St. Louis Park, MN, and sister Mary (Ivan) Whillock of Faribault, MN.

John had been actively involved with the vocal choir and bell choir at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. He enjoyed golfing and bowling on the church leagues and the camaraderie they offered. John also enjoyed taking long walks around his neighborhood. On weekends he could often be found watching Packers and Vikings games as well as other sports on television.

Dad was just the best. He loved us always, was a lifelong teacher, and never knew a stranger.

A private service for the immediate family will be held at Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Livestream of the service will be available at 1:00 PM on the funeral home’s website, www.schumacher-kish.com, and click on the Facebook link. Pending the Covid pandemic, a celebration of life may be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s music department/John Landro Memorial at http://gslacrosse.org/give-online or Western Technical College, both in La Crosse, Wisconsin.