Joan E. (Ine) McHenry, went to join her family in heaven on Saturday, January 13, 2018, where she is counting on playing penny-ante poker with them all, just like they did when they were growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  The last seat at the table is now taken.

Joan was the seventh of eight children born to Grover and Margaret McHenry, on September 6, 1931.  She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers and sisters.  While she never married or had children of her own, she was the matriarch of her family for the last 17 years of her life.  She was particularly close to her nephew, Steve Schlifer and her nieces Cathy Schlifer and Patty Stephan.  She selflessly stepped in several times in her life to help raise the children of her sisters, and became a second mother to her sister Eileen’s children, when they lost their father at a young age.

Joan started working at St. Francis Hospital at the age of 14, delivering lunch trays to patients suffering from polio and confined to iron lungs.  She spent her entire career of 54 years at St. Francis/Mayo, rising to the role of Assistant Director of Housekeeping before retiring in 1999.  She was well loved and respected by many, and was awarded the Franciscan Skemp Foundation Spheres of Influence award, alongside Bishop Freking in 1994 for the many ways she brought her spirit to benefit others in her circle of family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.

She loved music, especially opera, and was a talented singer who performed at area weddings and often accompanied the Metropolitan Opera on the radio while she did laundry on Saturdays.  She was also an avid reader.

She is survived by numerous nephews and nieces, and will be missed by them.  A brief ceremony will be held on Friday, January 19, 2018, at 11:00 am at Coulee Region Cremation Group, 133 Mason St. Onalaska, WI followed by interment at the Catholic Cemetery mausoleum in La Crosse.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are respectfully requested and may be given to the American Heart Association or The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

Coulee Region Cremation Group is assisting the family.