Anona Schmudlach
February 4, 1930 — June 25, 2017
Anona May (Wetmore) Schmudlach, 87, rural Hancock, died Sunday morning, June 25, 2017 at Heartland House, Wautoma, where she has been a resident since January 29, 2013.
Anona was born Feb. 4, 1930, daughter of Franklin Jay and Mary (Edge) Wetmore, at the Hancock Experimental Farm. She often said she was an “experimental baby.” She was proud her father, Franklin, was Hancock’s Police Chief for many years.
Anona attended schools in Hancock and graduated from Hancock High School in 1948. She married Forrest O.W. Schmudlach on Oct. 16, 1948 at the Hancock Community Church (now the United Church of Christ) with the Rev. H. H. Ferris officiating.
Some of her early jobs included, in high school, being a pin-setter at the Hancock Bowling Alley. Anona was a cook for the well-known Friday night fish fries in Richford and sheared trees at Bing Farms. She loved farming, milking cows, picking pickles and worked 30 years at Realist in Berlin. Anona loved gardening, her numerous flower beds, canning, cooking and baking. They had one son, Bill.
She enjoyed the company of neighbors, family and friends. Nieces and other children came and lived with the Schmudlachs, weeks or months at a time. Anona played cards, Checkers and Scrabble with her husband and Scrabble with her two grandsons, Matt and Dave.
She is survived by one son, William F. (Mary Jane Zinke) Schmudlach, Hancock; two grandsons, Matthew (Christine Gowen) Schmudlach, Greenville, and David, (Kimberly Spade) Schmudlach; Hancock; six great grandchildren, Lauryn, Jacob, Emma, Skye, Katlin and Alex; one sister-in-law, Colleen Wetmore, Hancock; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Anona was preceded in death by her husband, Forrest, her parents, one sister and brother-in-law, Alice (Jack) Chilsen Apache Junction, AZ; one brother, John Wetmore, Hancock; and a brother-in-law and sister-in- law, Edward (Bonnie Schmudlach) Malisch, Portage.
To honor Anona’s wishes there will be no memorial service. A private graveside service will held at the Hancock Village Cemetery.
The family can be reached by writing, William Schmudlach, N2350 County Road GG, Hancock, WI 54943.
The family would like to thank Josiah Grothe and Becky Schmidt and other staff members of Heartland House, Wautoma; Dr. Mike Staudinger, and Green Lake Hospice staff members for their gentle caring ways during the past four years of Anona’s life. God Bless You.