Jeanne Lorraine Wingert

A beautiful and very special limb has sadly fallen from our family tree. Jeanne Lorraine (Sand) Wingert, the family genealogist, passed away October 8, 2025 at the age of 98.

Jeanne was born September 16, 1927 in Mauston, WI, the daughter of Stanley and Pearl (Tietz) Sand. She was second born of four children; older brother Howard, younger sister Gail, and youngest brother Wayne. She grew-up during the Great Depression years, her life being formed by the frugality of the time.

She entered Mauston High School in the fall of 1941, and in December of that year WWII began. Her high school years were defined by the wartime restrictions imposed during those years. Despite the difficulties of the time, she was active in many organizations: band, a Capella choir, chorus, science club, girl scouts, cheerleading, and pep club, school newspaper and year book staff. She graduated in May 1945, the year that hostilities ended in Europe and Japan.

She began working at the local telephone company as an operator during her senior year and continued for one year before enrolling at the Stout Institute in Menomonie, WI. She graduated in 1950 with a bachelor of science degree in Home Economics Education.

She began her teaching career at Rice Lake, where she taught junior high girls for one year. She then took a teaching position at Durand, teaching junior high and high school girls' home economics classes as well as teaching adult night classes in rosemaling and sewing. It was a time when boys took shop and agricultural classes, only girls were allowed to take home economics classes. She taught nine years at Durand where she established an active Future Homemakers of America program. FHA offered girls a time for growth beyond the classroom. Field trips were taken to Minneapolis to the Betty Crocker Test Kitchens, WCCO radio station, and ice follies. Each year officers attended the state convention at Green Lake, WI and participated in the ceremonies. In 1958, at the National FHA Convention, a Durand FHA officer, Myrna Castleberg, was voted to become the National Treasurer for the year. That was an exciting time. 

While teaching at Durand, in 1952, she married Lloyd Wingert who was her sweetheart in college. In 1959 they moved to Mondovi where Lloyd had established a store, Lloyd's Menswear. Jeanne would clerk there during the busy times of the year and she was able to become a stay-at-home mom to their two children, a daughter, Kaaren, and a son, Thomas.

During this time when she was no longer teaching, she became more involved with activities of Central Lutheran Church. She became a Sunday School teacher and became active in her circle activities, accepting officer positions and giving Bible study lessons, continuing for many years.

Jeanne enjoyed growing her own vegetables and each year planted and tended a good sized garden, canning and freezing much of the produce. This led her to write a foods column, Step Into My Kitchen, for the Mondovi Herald News. In 1965, Jeanne returned to teaching Home Economics classes part-time at Mondovi High School to girls, and as time went on to boys. During her evenings, she taught adult night classes in microwave cooking and sewing for the Wisconsin University Extension. During this time, Jeanne returned to Stout over the summer months and evenings to continue her education, graduating in 1978 with a Master's Degree in Home Economics Education.

After retiring in 1991, she stayed active by becoming a Master Preserver in Buffalo County for the Wisconsin University Extension, giving demonstrations on safe preserving procedures, testing pressure canner gauges and being available to answer questions on safe preserving procedures.

Around 1997, Jeanne became interested in her heritage and began researching her family lines. She was fortunate that her parents had put together family information going back a number of generations. Jeanne spent many days over many years at courthouses, libraries and cemeteries gathering documents and information about her ancestors. She took classes to learn how to use a computer, and she learned how to use software to input the information, and began creating books from all the information she gathered. She located and contacted relatives she had never met for their information and family pictures so she could create pictorial family histories. This became a passion for her. In the next 20 years, she published ten different books on her, her husband's, and her son-in-law, Gary Frantzen's family lines. She also organized several family reunions and brought together family members that would have never met.

Jeanne is survived by her daughter, Kaaren (Gary) Frantzen, and her sons, Gus and Gabe Federici; her son, Tom Wingert and his children, Olivia and Sabrina Wingert; a number of nephews and nieces and special friends, Becky and Ed Bauer. She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings and their spouses.

She touched so many people during her long and very productive life. Jeanne was fortunate to be able to live out her life in the home she and Lloyd bought in 1962. They were blessed to celebrate 67 years of married life before Lloyd passed May 8, 2020, at the age of 94, just after Covid 19 closed everything including having church services and funerals. A Celebration of Life services for Lloyd and Jeanne will be held at Central Lutheran Church on Saturday November 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM with an hour of visitation prior. A luncheon will be served at Buzz's in Mondovi following the service.

The burial for Jeanne and Lloyd will be held privately by family at a later date in Mauston, Wisconsin.

Talbot Family Funeral Homes of Mondovi assisted the family. www.talbotfuneralhomes.com