Janice Blaschke, age 89, of Tomah, Wisconsin, died peacefully Monday, November 18, 2024 at her home.
She was born January 29, 1935, in Sparta, Wisconsin to Hugh V. Eddy Sr. and Elnora (Gilbertson) Eddy. She lived in the Black River Falls area in her youth.
She graduated from Black River Falls High School in 1948. She majored in Foods and Nutrition at UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI, and earned, as part of the program’s 1st graduating class, a bachelor’s degree in 1956. She completed her dietetic internship at Hines VA in Illinois in 1957, and worked at Hines VA Hospital until 1959.
She married Vincent J. Blaschke, Jr. in 1959. They lived in Tomah, WI, and raised five children.
Jan was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tomah, singing alto in the choir and serving in the P.C.C.W.
She returned to work in 1980, earned her master’s degree, and continued at the Tomah VA Hospital, working as a dietitian until she retired in 1997.
Jan enjoyed gardening, baking, tea time with the grandchildren, her early morning (and sometimes evening) coffee, watching the Packers and UW Badgers football, her five children, seven grandchildren, and her long-awaited first great-grandchild. In later years, she enjoyed listening to (often original) music performed by her sons and grandsons, as well as “classic” country music and Glenn Miller. And, as her eyesight failed, she used her mind’s eye to continue to “watch” her Packers and Badgers, Fennimore High School wrestling, and movies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Driving Miss Daisy”, “African Queen” and “On Golden Pond”, which were comforting to her.
She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
She is survived by her children: Allan (Renae) Blaschke, David (Corinna) Blaschke, Vinnie (Robin) Blaschke, Dan Blaschke and Nancy Blaschke, grandchildren: Meagan (Charlie) Fields, Ashlyn (Paul) Kuoppala, Connor Blaschke, Nick Blaschke, Nathan Blaschke, Christina “Kai” Blaschke and Noah Blaschke, and her great-grandson, Ezra Kuoppala, brothers: Gary and David (June), sisters: Christine Sandeen and Karen (Stuart) Pfeiffer, sisters-in-law: Janet, Doris, and Lynda Eddy, along with many nieces, nephews, her dear friends Louise Olson, Anne Wallus, Karen Rapp, and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, three brothers: Howard, Hugh, Jr., and Robert Eddy, and brother and sister-in-law, Francis and Dorothy Blaschke.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 11:00 a.m. at Queen of the Apostles Parish in Tomah, Wisconsin. Father Ethan Hokamp will officiate. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Tomah, Wisconsin. Family and friends are invited for visitation on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service at the church. Torkelson Funeral Home of Tomah is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences are available at www.torkelsonfuneralhome.com.
Torkelson Funeral Home
