Joan Louise Schuette

MADISON- Joan Louise (Bennett) Schuette, age 92, of Madison, passed away on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.  She was born on Nov. 6, 1930, in Red Wing, Minn., the daughter of Harold Roland Bennett and Ella Mae (Johnson) Bennett.

Joan graduated from Red Wing High School in 1948.  She attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. from 1948-1950.  Joan received a Bachelor of Science-Education degree from the University of Minnesota in 1952.  She also pursued graduate courses in social work from 1952-1954 at the University of Indiana.  Joan married Donald Schuette on August 22, 1953, in Red Wing, Minn.

Joan served as a social worker in Indianapolis, Ind., St. Paul, Minn. and in Ann Arbor, Mich. between 1950-1958.  Beginning in 1972, Joan was Program Advisor and Volunteer Services Coordinator for the Wisconsin Union, retiring in 1980.

Joan was president and a 50+ member of the League of Women Voters of Dane County.  She also served on several city of Madison boards and commissions in the areas of housing and community development. Joan was an active member of the Governors Metropolitan Task Force, the GEFF II Planning Committee, United Way Budget Committee, and the Madison Friends of International Students.  She was a Girl Scout Leader and Trainer for the Blackhawk Council of the Girl Scouts. She also volunteered as religious education teacher for the Unitarian Church, and she served as Vice President of the First Unitarian Society of Madison.

Joan loved time with her family - husband, Donald, her children, and their spouses.  She dearly loved her grandchildren and proudly displayed a plaque which read “If mother says no - ASK GRANDMA!”  Joan enjoyed many summers with her family and extended family at Green Lake (Minnesota) and Lake Wisconsin.   Camping trips and overseas adventures were also highlights.

When Joan retired, she pursued genealogy and family history, visiting many county museums, libraries and placed in the US and Sweden from which her family emigrated.  She has written four genealogical books, tracing her roots through her four grandparents.  It was especially exciting for her when her Swedish cousins from Orebro and Uppsala found her.  This led to several visits back and forth.

Joan’s other interests included duplicate bridge, folk, line, square and ballroom dancing, golf, political campaigns, gardening, sewing, swimming, boating, and canoeing. She especially loved the sunsets on beautiful Lake Wisconsin where they lived for many years.

Joan is survived by her two daughters, Claudia “Claire” Rohr, Dawn (Michael) Schuette-McKinnon; sister Joyce Swanson; three granddaughters, Margaret (Aaron) Boodle, Hilary Rohr, and Holly McKinnon; grandson, Ross Schuette; and nephew, Peter (Collette) Amato.  She was preceded in death by daughter, Elizabeth “Betsy” Schuette; son, Wade Schuette; husband, Donald Schuette; parents, Ella Mae and Harold Bennett; niece Susan Amato; and nephew Tom Amato.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison, at 1:00pm on Sunday, October 15, 2023. Burial will be at Highland Memory Gardens.

Memorials may be made to the League of Women Voters of Dane County or the First Unitarian-Universalist Society of Madison.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Fitchburg

Funeral & Cremation Care
2950 Chapel Valley Road
(608) 442-5002