Obituary of Nadeane Nass

Nadeane (Lester) Nass Nadeane was born in Minnesota in 1930 to Esther and James Lester. She and her younger brother, Terry, grew up during the Great Depression and her teenage years were dominated by the nation's involvement in World War II. Although the family struggled financially, education was always valued, especially by her mother, Esther. Nadeane attended college at Winona State after high school graduation in 1948 and then transferred to Valparaiso University in Indiana. She worked several jobs to pay for her education at Valparaiso and always told great stories about her waitress duties at Ma Johnson's. She ran out of money in 1951. So Nadeane decided to take a position teaching at the newly built St. John's Lutheran School in Jefferson, Wisconsin to earn enough money to go back to "Valpo" and finish her education. Not long after arriving, she and Jefferson native Don Nass were the lead singers in an opera designed to raise funds to buy gym furnishings for the new school. And as they say, the rest is history. Nadeane and Don were married on June 27, 1953 and raised a family of three children; Steve, Sue and Larry. They also hosted exchange students from Germany (Peter Schäfer) and Sweden (Maria Lundgren) who became life long family members and friends. Nadeane and Don took their children on road trips, traveling the entire country from coast to coast exploring national parks, battlegrounds, museums, mines, factories and natural wonders. Nadeane was the coordinator, creating an agenda from newspaper clippings, guide books and other written materials in the years before the internet. They were journeys filled with fun, laughter and games and those excursions instilled a life long curiosity and a love of learning in all of her children. Nadeane modeled fun over convention, risk over complacency and feistiness over sweetness, standing up to bullies and defending those less fortunate. Don and Nadeane traveled the world together from Europe and the Soviet Union to China and New Zealand. They had an active social life that included annual excursions with the "anniversary gang", Don's high school friends and spouses including Don's sister Dottie and husband Harry Glander. Nadeane still appreciated the value of education, returning to college in 1975 and graduating with a degree in social work. She was a community educator for family planning for several years and then took her organizational and creative talent and became the children's librarian at the Jefferson Public Library. A whole generation of kids was charmed by Nadeane's story hour and her hand puppet Mr. Mouse. Nadeane was curious and inquisitive and always asked great questions. She was interested in each of her children's careers and encouraged them to reach for their dreams. Nadeane embraced her daughter-in-law Debbie Haines (Steve) and son-in-law Steve Knick (Sue) and became another parent to them. She was a wonderful Grandma to Clayton, Katie and Sasha always ready to read another book or play one more card game. After retirement, Nadeane and Don spent their winters in Phoenix, Arizona near their son Larry. Still, Nadeane's innate curiosity kept her taking classes at the univer-920-sity, going on elder hostel trips domestically and traveling abroad. She also volunteered at a free tax clinic in Arizona and at St. John's Lutheran school library purchasing and processing the books and organizing the volunteer schedule. Nadeane was an avid Packer fan and thoroughly enjoyed going to football games at Milwaukee County Stadium and Lambeau Field. She also loved to play cards and was an accomplished bridge player belonging to several clubs in Wisconsin and Arizona. Nadeane is survived by her husband of 62 years, Don Nass of Jefferson, WI; her children Steve Nass and wife Debbie Haines of Lake Mills, WI; her daughter Sue Nass and husband Steve Knick of Boise, ID; and son Larry Nass of Chandler, AZ.; grandchildren Clayton Nass of Madison, WI, Katie Knick of Fort Collins, CO and Sasha Knick of Boise, ID and a niece and four nephews along with her sister-in-law Dottie Glander. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Terry Lester and her "son" Peter Schäfer. One of our favorite quotes of Nadeane's was "A zest for life never goes unrewarded." She truly modeled this. As her family, our greatest hope is that now freed from the shackles of dementia, she will be awaiting our grand reunion with the zest and passion she always had for life. Nadeane's family would like to thank Heritage Homes in Watertown, WI and Rainbow Hospice of Jefferson, WI for their care and support. Donations in the memory of Nadeane can be sent to Rainbow Hospice, 147 W. Rockwell St., Jefferson, WI 53549 or online at https://rainbowhospicecare.ejoinme.org Funeral services will be at 11 AM Tuesday, January 12th at St John's Lutheran Church, 232 E. Church St., Jefferson, WI. Visitation is 9-11 AM at the church. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Schneider-Michaelis Funeral Home, LLC , 920-674-3960, 900 W. Racine, Jefferson, WI. Website for condolences: www.schneidermichaelisfuneralhome.com