Jeanann Hankel

MADISON - Jeanann Marie “Jean” Hankel passed away due to complications from a stroke, on June 25, 2026 at the age of 73. She was born on November 16, 1952, on a farm in Portage, Wisconsin, daughter of Edith (Glaeser) and Herbert Ludwig. Jean lost her mom at the age of seven and soon after, the family moved to Monona where her father remarried. This early experience with loss and change shaped Jean’s desire to create a strong loving family of her own. Jean was united in marriage to Ronald Hankel on October 13, 1973, in Monona.

Jean was a queen of the side hustle. A crafter who owned her own business, she designed and made a variety of items, driving a big van and trailer to craft shows in multiple states. She was a talented artist who made sand-blasted glass art, quilts, placemats, pot holders, and a multitude of fabric snowmen and angels.

While she had a successful career, one of the main joys in her life was raising her children.  She did everything possible to make sure their childhood was a loving one. She filled her home with books and helped create many positive memories like camping trips and driving  them to all sorts of activities. She was playful and fun, convincing her young kids that leprechauns were real with silly St. Patrick’s Day pranks like turning the milk in their cereal bowls green before their eyes. Her kids and others benefited from her excellent cooking and baking skills and she rarely made the same recipe twice, excepting her excellent date bars,  which were a requirement at Christmas. Jean believed in being a good citizen of the world; she had a hand in helping raise neighborhood kids she babysat at her house, her Girl Scout troop, and numerous respite foster children through Briarpatch Youth Services. Being the caregiver she was, she also helped several elderly family members as they aged, whom she lovingly called her "blue hairs." Later, her attention turned to her grandbaby.  She cultivated many special experiences with her, most notably, Nana Camp.

When she retired, she did not stop crafting but channeled her talents toward helping others.  She knit blankets for nursing homes, sweaters for new babies, and gifted handmade quilts to family members. One of her missions was serving others and she did this by helping her church make baby kits for Lutheran World Relief, volunteering at the food pantry, and walking dogs at the Humane Society.

She was always a person on the move and full of life. When she wasn't volunteering, she was assembling 1000-piece puzzles at a rate of one per week, hiking, taking care of her yard and flowers, reading, playing canasta, doing water aerobics, or having a glass of bourbon or coffee with a friend.

Being a lifelong learner was something she relished. She sought out and took various classes to learn new skills like basket making and glass work and she loved to tour museums and learn the history of places she traveled.  She was eager to learn new technology and she followed current events.  Jean was an open-minded, empathetic, compassionate, and generous person whose last monetary donation was to an anti-ICE organization in Minnesota.

She preferred to be near water, living on a small lake in Rhinelander, Wisconsin during the summer and the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas in the winter. Wherever she went, she collected and kept many close friends, as she thrived on human connections.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Edith (Glaeser) Ludwig; father, Herbert Ludwig; aunt, Irene Glaeser; stepsister, Suzanne Kendall; and stepmother, Norma Ludwig.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Ronald Hankel; son, Malachi Hankel; daughter, Chelsea (Chris) Mikkelson; her favorite person in the whole world, her granddaughter, Irene Grace Mikkelson; her stepsister, Patti (Dan) Wiersma; her cousin, Kathy (Dennis) Pappenfuss; and countless close friends she gathered along the way.

The family will celebrate Jean’s life in a private ceremony, on the water, as she would have loved. In lieu of flowers, her family has requested memorial contributions to the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry or NAMI Wisconsin.

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

Gunderson East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive
(608) 221-5420