Verna Stange

Verna Stange passed away peacefully on Friday, December 8, 2017, at Bethany-Riverside. She was born in Blair, Wisconsin to Ansel and Leona (Niedfeldt) Ustby. She graduated from Blair High School in 1956. She met her future husband, John “Jack” Stange, when they both worked at the Bodega Restaurant in downtown La Crosse. They married on June 10, 1961. Jack and Verna made their home in La Crosse.

Verna loved being with family, cooking, gardening, and going to rummage sales.   She worked at La Crosse Footwear from 1968 until her retirement in 2001. It was at La Crosse Footwear Co. where she met some of her best friends, Ann and Jim Berekvam, and Judy Given. She was famous for winning all the Easter bonnet contests.

Verna is survived by her son, Michael (Charlotte) Stange; and her three grandchildren, Jenna, Zachary and Tyler, all of La Crosse. She is further survived by brothers, Wayne, Dennis and Jerome Ustby; sister, Beverly Illian; sisters-in-law, Jan Deml and Carol Hollnagel; brother-in-law George Youngblood; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors.

She was preceded in death by her husband, John; her parents and step-father, Ellis Illian; brother, Roy Ustby; sister, Joyce Youngblood; and several beloved in-laws.

Verna will be missed by all that knew her with her kind spirit and sense of humor. She loved being a mother and grandmother. In Verna’s papers, we found where she wrote: “My family has always been very important to me. To my grandchildren: you were loved more than you can imagine. To my special friends, Ann, Judy, and Sharon Sawicki, you have all meant so much to me and you helped me ‘’make it” through.”

A memorial service will be held at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, December 12 ^th , at Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services, 200 West Ave. So., La Crosse. Pastor Joanne S. Richmond will officiate. Visitation will be held from 4:30 p.m. until the time of service on Tuesday. A private burial will be held at a later date in Long Coulee Cemetery, rural Holmen.