Joan Anne Friend

MIDDLETON-Joan passed away on Dec. 13, 2017.  She was born in the Township of Vermont, Dane County, to Andrew and Anna (Koch) Brunner. She moved to Cross Plains at an early age, where she was a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish and later a member of their choir and Altar Society. She helped her father raise her three younger siblings after her mother died when she was only 15. She married Richard Friend on May 5, 1951.  Early in her married life, she and her husband became foster parents, taking care of some older children and fostering several babies before they were placed for adoption. She sang in the Middleton Civic Choir, with which she toured Greece, and the Edgewood Choir for several years. She volunteered with Middleton Outreach Ministries and was active at the Middleton Senior Center until the very end of her life.  Joan was creative; she loved crafts, was an excellent baker, sewed, knit and crocheted many an article for the poor. Later in her life she worked with Nimble Fingers and also discovered a love of poetry.She is survived by two daughters, Marie Kemp (Thomas) of Blanchardville, Wis., Elizabeth Ennis (Michael) of Bronxville, N.Y.; and two sons, Joseph (Barbara) of Raleigh, N.C. and John (Maureen) of Madison, Wis. She has five granddaughters, Rebecca Phillips (Kevin), Theresa Kuhl (Bryan), Madeline Friend, Mackenzie Ennis and Shirley King. She has four grandsons, Michael, Austin, and Alex Friend and Trey Ennis. She has five great-granddaughters, Teah Phillips, Brianne, Leah, and Skye Kuhl, and Maya White; and two great-grandsons, Aiden and Eli King. She is also survived by a sister-in-law, Beatrice Helms of Tenn.; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard; her parents; a baby girl; four sisters; and four brothers.   A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at ST. BERNARD CATHOLIC CHURCH, 7450 University Ave., Middleton, at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017.  Visitation will be held at GUNDERSON WEST FUNERAL & CREMATION CARE, 7435 University Ave, Middleton, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 and also on Friday at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the Mass.    In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Retina Foundation http://retinafoundation.org/  for research into treatment for Macular Degeneration.  Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.