JANEANE (JEAN) R MAHONEY – West Salem/Viola
Janeanne Rosanna Mahoney passed away at Mulders Nursing Home in West Salem
on December 9, 2010 after a long debilitating disease.

She was born October 30, 1934 to Wilson and Norma (Brown) Sutherland of Sylvan township near
Viola, Wisconsin. She attended a one room grade school in the Elk Creek area and
then went on to graduate from Viola High School in 1952. She married
William M Hill in April 1953 and from this union, they had a daughter named Jeanne
Ann. They later divorced and she became a hardworking single mother raising
her daughter. On December 14, 1968, she married Bruce D. Mahoney at the St
Lukes United Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

She worked hard all of her life, being employed at Cremer’s Jewelry store
in La Crosse as a sales clerk. Later, she worked as a waitress at Walt’s
Restaurant, a cook at the Airport Café in La Crosse and then, after moving back
to the Viola area, she worked as the day cook at The Kickapoo Inn in
Readstown. Later, she and Bruce decided to move back to the La Crosse area where
they purchased and operated Rusty’s Bar on French Island. Upon retirement, she
moved back to the old homestead in Viola. In 2005, as her health
deteriorated, they decided to move back to the La Crosse area to be closer to their
daughter and grandsons. She remained in this West Salem home until the end of
July, when her illness required her to be moved to Mulder’s Nursing Home to
finish out her life.

She is survived by her husband, Bruce and her only daughter, Jeanne (Neil)
Bornitz, her two grandsons, Steve Bornitz and his friend, Holly Weber and
Mark (Lindsey Krajewski) Bornitz. She is also survived by her sisters &
brothers – Marlene (Ken) Jasperson of Viroqua, Donna Lawyer of Menasha, Robert
(Marie) Sutherland of Blanchardville Norma (Arden) Mills of Desoto, Eston
(Janice) Sutherland, Mary Alderman and Linda (Keith) Chamberlain, all from Viola.
She was a loving aunt to many nieces and nephews also and her beloved dog –
Charlie.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 2 brothers – Ronald Sutherland
and Ardith and his wife, Carolyn (Perry) Sutherland, three nieces and a
nephew-in-law and her beloved two golden retrievers – Rusty (whom the bar had been
named for) and Casey, who were like children to her.

She enjoyed life, telling stories of growing up in the Elk Creek area and
also doing counted cross stitch pictures – some of which were extremely
delicate and beautiful. Some of her happy moments were being able to be at Mark’s
wedding and also watching the rebroadcasts of the races from the La Crosse
Speedway where she was able to watch her grandsons’ race in both Thunderstox
and the Hornets. She particularly enjoyed watching them win their
back-to-back championships in 2008 and 2009 for Hornets – Mark in 2008 and Steve in
2009. She met many people throughout her life that brought her enjoyment
from when she worked at Cremers to when she operated Rusty’s. She will be
sadly missed by all.

She is to be cremated at this time with burial at a later date. A
Celebration of Life will be held at the Masonic Temple, 118 8th St. South in La
Crosse, Saturday, December 18 from 1 PM to 4:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, family
is requesting memorials.  Coulee Region Cremation Group is assisting the family.

The family want to thank all those that were a comfort to her in her last
moments of life – Dr Danyon Wagner, who compassion was always showing, The
staff from Gundersen Lutheran Hospice Program. Cindy Koeller and Nike Sires
from Western Wisconsin Cares, the staff from Mulder’s for making her care
especially comfortable and a special thanks to Joe Schams from the Coulee
Region Cremation Group for taking care of her at the end and for the peace of
mind he gave to the family that her final wishes be granted. Also want to thank
the neighbors, Lynette and Mike Dewalt for being there to help her when she
was at home and for watching over dad during this time. Peace be with you
mom – I know you will be watching over us all.