Elizabeth 'Joan' Hemann, age 93
Elizabeth “Joan” Hemann, age 93 of Osage, died peacefully Friday, Nov, 10, 2023, at Faith Lutheran Home in Osage with her nine living children at her side.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Osage with the Rev. Raymond Burkle officiating.
The burial will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, at Sacred Heart Church in Osage with a rosary at 3:45 p.m.
Joan was born on March 30, 1930, to Leo and Pauline (Werner) Michels in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was quite proud of her 3-30-30 birthday throughout her life.
At the age of 1, the family moved back to one of the Werner family farms near Meyer. Joan attended grade school at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Meyer and Visitation High School in Stacyville, graduating in 1947.
She was united in marriage to John E. Hemann on June 2, 1948, at Sacred Heart Church in Meyer. They made their home near Osage, farming together for 25 years at that location before purchasing their own farm near Riceville.
Joan loved being outdoors and working on their farm where they lived for 30 years before purchasing a home in Osage in 2003. Shortly after settling in their home in Osage, she had to say goodbye to her husband, John, who lost his battle with cancer in 2003.
Joan fought a brave fight with her own cancer and after multiple surgeries over 11 years moved to the Faith Home Assisted Living in April 2018. In March 2022, she became a resident of the Faith Lutheran Nursing Home.
Joan loved being a “mom of 10” ... most of the time. She proclaimed this on her license plate, but would tell her children she collected angels because she didn’t have any. She worked tirelessly as a wife of a farmer and mother of 10. Hopefully heaven can use even more perfection. She would love to get back to cooking a great meal or making another quilt.
Joan was a phenomenal cook, from cheesy potatoes to any kind of pie you ask for. (She had lots of practice.) God only knows how many souls she fed in her 93 years.
She loved music. She played piano and sang in the church choir. Joan and John could clear the floor dancing the polka, and they attended every musical and athletic event that involved their children. They also attended many professionally staged musicals. She played cards with the best, and her artistic side was evident in the gorgeous quilts she made for her children and grandchildren.
John and Joan continued to work together after retirement, creating woodworking projects and traveling together to Europe and throughout the U.S. But it was her faith that truly defined Joan: family rosaries, Sunday and often daily Mass, and daily prayer. She was a Eucharistic minister both in church and to the homebound for many years. She was also active in the rosary society and religious education program at Immaculate Conception while in Riceville and the Sacred Heart Guild, Study Club, and Covenant Choir after returning to Osage.
Joan is survived by her children, Marilyn (Dave) Osterhaus of Earlville, Iowa, Tom (Mary) of Streater, Illinois, Don (Cheryl) of Kirkwood, Missouri, Karen (Tom) Thome of Osage, Alan (Linda) of Riceville, Barb of Des Moines, Jean of Des Moines, Mike (Tracee) of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Brian of Fox Point, Wisconsin; two sisters, Rose Bock of Clive, Iowa, Jean Brandt of Apple Valley, Minnesota; brother and sister-in-law, Kenneth and Ann Hemann; sisters-in-law Sister Kenneth Hemann, Beatrice Hemann, Angie Werner, and Theresa Theis; 23 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, John E. Hemann; her precious, faithful son, John (Teddy); son-in-law, Steve Gulick (Barb); brothers, Leo and Robert Michels; sisters, Ann Marsolek and Germaine Michels; brothers-in-law, Tom Marsolek, Dale Bock, Ray, Cletus, Robert, and Arthur Hemann, Herb Werner and George Theis; sisters-in-law, Bette and Irene Michels, Kate, Noraine and Darlene Hemann.
