MADISON - Joan Margaret (Cooper) Mitchen, age 81, of Madison, Wis., passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family on August 26, 2026, due to an aggressive form of lung cancer.

Joan was born July 15, 1945, in Madison to her beloved parents, Vincent and Bernice (Fries) Cooper. She was raised amongst the joyful laughter of family and friends, many of whom she continued to attend regular reunions with until the end. She attended elementary, middle and high school at Edgewood, and continued her higher education at Madison College, pursuing her dreams of working in science and bettering the world.

Joan met and married the love of her life, Jacque, while employed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked tirelessly to help find the cure for breast cancer through her lifelong research. She gave birth to four children, Sean (Kate), Daniel (who passed away as an infant), Joseph (Erika) and Kathleen (Michael), whom she loved and continued to care for their whole lives with kind words, a loving embrace, and the kind of stalwart and unconditional support most children could only dream of.

She especially adored her grandchildren, Parker and Rachel (Hagen), Mason and Adela (Mitchen), and Cameron (Mitchen), spending countless hours with them and sending love from a distance when needed. They are the gentle-spirited, kind people they are today, thanks to Joan’s loving and compassionate nature.

An avid and unwavering Packers fan, Joan loved to cheer on “God’s team” on fall and winter Sundays, never passed up a slice of Lane’s almond kringle, and enjoyed trying her luck with an occasional turn on a slot machine, often coming up as lucky in gambling as she was in love. She was a proud bargain hunter and collector of beautiful things and loved surprising her family with treasures she found for them along her journeys.

Every Christmas was magic, thanks to Joan. She shopped with great care and labored with joy to make her home beautiful for the holiday and memorable for her children and grandchildren. She lovingly mastered our secret family recipe for holiday fudge and passed it down to future generations. But try as we may, no one will ever make it quite like she did.

Joan loved gardening and was especially proud of her annual tomato crop, but perhaps even stronger was her deep love for animals. She adored every rescued cat who found shelter in her warm and loving home, and she always ensured that the wild animals of the neighborhood had plenty to eat all year long, regularly sharing leftovers and special treats with her backyard friends. Her love of God’s creatures was one of her most beautiful traits and was passed along in spades to her children and grandchildren.

That legacy of love and care lives on through her beloved husband of 52 years, Jacque, her children and grandchildren, along with many cousins, friends and neighbors who adored her as well. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant son with whom she is now reunited, and her brother, Raymond.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 5101 Schofield St., Monona, Wis., on Friday, September 4, 2026, at 11 a.m. Joan would love to have the people she adored all in one place, toasting a life well lived and sharing stories, so please plan to join us for a celebration of life following the Mass (approximately 12:30 p.m.) at BUCK & HONEY’S, 800 W. Broadway, Monona. All are welcome- friends, neighbors and family. The Rite of Committal will take place on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at St. Barnabas Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Joan Margaret Mitchen may be made via check payable to the “UW Foundation” with a note on the memo line to direct as a tribute to the “UW Carbone Cancer Center Greatest Need Fund #112909110”. Donations can be mailed to the UW Foundation, US Bank Lockbox Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI 53278-8807. Memorial gifts in honor of Joan Margaret Mitchen may also be made online to this fund at give.wiscmedicine.org/cancer.

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

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420

Joan M. Mitchen

July 15, 1945 - August 26, 2026

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