IN LOVING MEMORY OF
John
Severance
July 19, 1934 – August 7, 2024
Obituary
John Merrill Severance
John Severance, aka "Big John", died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, after a battle with cancer at the age of 90. He lived a long life filled with love, family and joy and made it to his goal to celebrate his 90 th birthday.
He was born in Cape May, NJ on July 19, 1934, to Howard and Della (Dunn) Severance. He had three brothers and four sisters. As a teenager, he moved to Neillsville, WI and helped with farming for several years before moving to West Bend, WI. There he married his first wife, Ruth Koller and had five wonderful children together. For many years, he worked at the West Bend Company, Jansen Construction and Bradley Auto Salvage. In 1974, he married Mary Ann Ebert (who sadly passed away in 2002) and was a great stepfather to her five children. Then in 2004, John met his forever love, Nancy Rodenkirch and his family grew to a total of 15 children, 25 grandchildren and 42 great grandchildren. He had such a big heart filled with love and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
He will be remembered for his love of motorcycles, vintage cars, casinos and being the life of the party, aka EIEIO "polka song". He also enjoyed playing cards, working on puzzles and watching Friday night WWE Wrestling. He was a member of the Kettle Moraine Klassic Kar Klub, the Moose Lodge and the XYZ Card club in Kewaskum.
John is survived by his special friend and companion of 20 years, Nancy Rodenkirch; his first wife Ruth Severance and their children Ted, Lori (Bob) Brodzeller, Lynn (Steve) Kissinger, Rod, Lisa (Jay) Goehring; grandchildren Jamie (Sarah) Severance, Jennifer (Tony) Wuensch, Justin (Sami Schoep) Kissinger, Sarah (Mac) Abfall, Amanda (Jack Mueller) Goehring, and Halle (Elijah) Knaack. His step children, Goldie (Gerard) Schuh, Joanne (Al) Barth, Janet (Pete) Halfmann, Lloyd (Julie) and John (Ruth) Ebert; step-grandchildren Peter, Beth (Dave) Mehnert-Roehl, Jessica (Kyle) Roadt, Jason, Lloyd Jr (Kelly), Kara (Scott Wilde) Kaiser; special family members Cindy (David) Gruber, Laura Kleber, Mike (Carla Schmitt) Rodenkirch, Bruce (Carrie) Rodenkirch and Kevin (Debie) Rodenkirch along with their families; his brother Ken, and sisters Lee McKissock, Kathy Luecht, Dorothy (Bob) Askey; and 42 great grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ann Ebert, his brothers Howard and Russell, a sister Anita, 2 brothers-in-law and 2 grandchildren Geoffrey and Anna Severance.
A Celebration of Life for John will be held at the Rusty Spur Saloon, N412 Cty S in Kewaskum, WI from 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm on Saturday, August 24, 2024, with a short memorial starting at 2:30. We invite you to join us in sharing your memories of John. A private family burial will be held at a later date.
A special thank you to the staff at Kathy's Hospice. Your kindness and compassion were greatly appreciated.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the family for a charity in John's name to be decided on a later date.
John Severance, aka "Big John", died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, after a battle with cancer at the age of 90. He lived a long life filled with love, family and joy and made it to his goal to celebrate his 90 th birthday.
He was born in Cape May, NJ on July 19, 1934, to Howard and Della (Dunn) Severance. He had three brothers and four sisters. As a teenager, he moved to Neillsville, WI and helped with farming for several years before moving to West Bend, WI. There he married his first wife, Ruth Koller and had five wonderful children together. For many years, he worked at the West Bend Company, Jansen Construction and Bradley Auto Salvage. In 1974, he married Mary Ann Ebert (who sadly passed away in 2002) and was a great stepfather to her five children. Then in 2004, John met his forever love, Nancy Rodenkirch and his family grew to a total of 15 children, 25 grandchildren and 42 great grandchildren. He had such a big heart filled with love and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
He will be remembered for his love of motorcycles, vintage cars, casinos and being the life of the party, aka EIEIO "polka song". He also enjoyed playing cards, working on puzzles and watching Friday night WWE Wrestling. He was a member of the Kettle Moraine Klassic Kar Klub, the Moose Lodge and the XYZ Card club in Kewaskum.
John is survived by his special friend and companion of 20 years, Nancy Rodenkirch; his first wife Ruth Severance and their children Ted, Lori (Bob) Brodzeller, Lynn (Steve) Kissinger, Rod, Lisa (Jay) Goehring; grandchildren Jamie (Sarah) Severance, Jennifer (Tony) Wuensch, Justin (Sami Schoep) Kissinger, Sarah (Mac) Abfall, Amanda (Jack Mueller) Goehring, and Halle (Elijah) Knaack. His step children, Goldie (Gerard) Schuh, Joanne (Al) Barth, Janet (Pete) Halfmann, Lloyd (Julie) and John (Ruth) Ebert; step-grandchildren Peter, Beth (Dave) Mehnert-Roehl, Jessica (Kyle) Roadt, Jason, Lloyd Jr (Kelly), Kara (Scott Wilde) Kaiser; special family members Cindy (David) Gruber, Laura Kleber, Mike (Carla Schmitt) Rodenkirch, Bruce (Carrie) Rodenkirch and Kevin (Debie) Rodenkirch along with their families; his brother Ken, and sisters Lee McKissock, Kathy Luecht, Dorothy (Bob) Askey; and 42 great grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ann Ebert, his brothers Howard and Russell, a sister Anita, 2 brothers-in-law and 2 grandchildren Geoffrey and Anna Severance.
A Celebration of Life for John will be held at the Rusty Spur Saloon, N412 Cty S in Kewaskum, WI from 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm on Saturday, August 24, 2024, with a short memorial starting at 2:30. We invite you to join us in sharing your memories of John. A private family burial will be held at a later date.
A special thank you to the staff at Kathy's Hospice. Your kindness and compassion were greatly appreciated.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the family for a charity in John's name to be decided on a later date.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John Severance, please visit our flower store.
Services
Time of Sharing
August
24
Rusty Spur Saloon
Starts at 2:30 pm
A gathering of friends and family from 2:00PM until 5:30PM, August 24, 2024.
John Severance's Guestbook
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