Jo Ann Charlotte Process

Always ready with a bright smile and a laugh, Jo Ann Charlotte Process was a fun loving, humorous, and gregarious person who was happiest when chatting with friends or family. Her storytelling skills, including some enhancements for dramatic effect, were legendary.  A loving wife, mother, and grandmother, Jo Ann was a gourmet cook who enjoyed staging formal and elegant meals and was a devoted bridge club and Coffee Klatch hostess. Her memory for genealogical and personal details of friends and relatives astounded us all. Jo Ann’s love of reading led her to found the Xavier First Friday Book Club in 1963, which purchased books for the Xavier High School library. She was a volunteer for St. Therese School, the Christ Child Society, and other organizations. Jo Ann very much enjoyed her many trips to the Vancouver, Canada area and others she took with her daughters and her sisters Jean and Dode. She was a former longtime member of St. Therese Church, Appleton.

     Jo Ann was a woman of faith and prayer. Her highest goal was making heaven and on Friday, July 26, 2024, at 5:25 p.m., an angel arrived to take her there. Age 96, she was born on January 14, 1928 in Wausau, the daughter of Hilmuth and Genevieve (Burger) Bruess. On November 6, 1948, in Merrill, Jo Ann was united in marriage to Lewis J. Process.  Jo Ann is survived by a son, Stephen (Betty) Proces of Madison; daughters, Penelope (Scott) Swanson of Burnaby, British Columbia, Nancie Process (Gary Bodie) of Stoughton, and Gabrielle Process of Menasha; grandchildren, Alexis Swanson, Keira (Derrick) Hart, and Brett Swanson of Burnaby, British Columbia, Paul Toro Proces (Arlene Toro) of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, Eric Proces (Kevin Raduka) of Madison, and a sister-in-law, Arlene Bruess of Wausau. She is also survived by many cousins, nieces, and nephews, of whom she was very fond.

     She was preceded in death by her husband Lewis J. Process in 2007; an infant son, Christopher, in 1952; a daughter, Jo Elizabeth Process, in 1977; sisters, Louise (William) Andrews, Doris Bruess, Jean (Harold) Ninnemann, and Nancy (Patrick) Barden; brothers, Lyle Bruess, John (Margaret) Bruess, and Robert Bruess; her father- and mother-in-law, Stephen and Rachel (DePeau) Process; in-laws, Willys, Orville, Richard, and Donald (Dolores) Process, Lorraine (Eugene) Ehrfurth, Marie (Richard) Williamsen, Lewis’ twin sister Lucy (Harry) Rienow, Carol (Vincent) Oettinger, and her special friend and late-life companion Don Arthur of Menasha.

     Our family would like to thank the Williamsen family for all their help to Mom over the years, especially Betty and Debbie. We also salute our sister Gabrielle, who took such patient and loving care of Mom for many years.

     A gathering for friends and family will take place on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at Valley Funeral Home, 2211 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wis., 1:00-3:00 pm, with a short prayer service at 3:00 pm.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.