WAUNAKEE - Joan Dorothea Bimrose Ruppenthal was born on Nov. 4, 1935, in Stamford, Conn., the only daughter of Alwin and Margaret (Radtke) Quebe. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Faith. She attended grade school in Stamford and graduated from Stamford High School.

Upon graduation, Joan entered nursing school at the University of Connecticut and Yale University, graduating in 1958 as a Registered Nurse.

In 1962, she married John H. “Jack” Bimrose. The marriage was blessed with three children. In the mid-1960s, Joan and her family moved to Schaumburg, Ill., and later to Harvard, Ill., where she raised her children.

When her husband died in 1977, Joan reentered the nursing profession, first as a school nurse in Harvard and then as a public health nurse in McHenry County, Ill. She served the public there until her retirement in 2001.

In 1991, she moved to rural Williams Bay, Wis. There Joan met and, in 1992, married the pastor of Williams Bay Lutheran Church, Pastor John E. Ruppenthal. They remained in Williams Bays until 2002, when they moved to Waunakee, Wis., as Pastor Ruppenthal had accepted a call to Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison.

She was active at the church and in the Waunakee Community, volunteering with the Waunakee Senior Center. She loved yard work, orchids, and all her dogs, Blondie, Fritzie, Fanny and Yeti.

Joan died on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, after a prolonged illness and injuries resulting from an automobile accident in 2001. She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband; son, John; and daughter, Heidi. She is survived by her husband; son, Michael (Jen); stepchildren, Christopher (Adria) Ruppenthal and Amanda (Jeremy) Ruppenthal Stein; daughter-in-law, Kelly Barnes; grandsons, Nathan and Noah, Joshua, Luke, and Braiden; granddaughter, Bailey; step-grandsons, Tyler Wilson-Bimrose, Apollo Kaufman-Ruppenthal, and Yishai Bear Stein; and step-granddaughters, Sydney Wilson-Bimrose, Mirit and Hadas Stein.

Joan’s funeral service will be held at TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1904 Winnebago St., Madison, at 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. Visitation will be held at the church from 9 a.m. until the start of the service on Monday.

Memorials may be given to Trinity Lutheran Church or the Dane County Humane Society. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420

Joan Dorothea Ruppenthal

November 04, 1935 - November 29, 2022

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