JOANN SHREVE

JoAnn Shreve (Trenkle), age 80, of Neenah, passed away in her sleep on Sunday, October 1, 2023, after a short illness.  She was born on December 23, 1942, the 4th and last child of the late Willard and Katy (Albright) Trenkle, in Champaign, IL.  Due to her father's work requirements, they lived in various cities in both Illinois and Indiana, finally ending up in Lafayette, Indiana.  Her strong Catholic faith meant that she attended St. Boniface Elementary School and Lafayette Central Catholic High School.  During her school years her father unfortunately suffered a series of strokes which meant that JoAnn did not pursue a post-secondary education as she had to work to help pay for family expenses.  She became a travel agent at Irvine's Travel in West Lafayette, helping Purdue University students with their travel plans.  The job also had its perks, allowing her to travel outside of the United States for free as a travel agent.  It was during this time that she met her future husband, John Shreve, through mutual friends, as he was a student at Purdue.  JoAnn's mother was not happy about her dating a Purdue student and said those "Purdue guys" will just love you and leave you.  But that didn't happen, and both John and JoAnn saw to it that it wouldn't happen.  John graduated in January of 1964 and took a job in Rockford, Illinois.  John and JoAnn were married in May of 1964 and lived together in Rockford for about 2 years.  

It was at that time that John's father, Tom, invited him to come to Neenah to help Tom with his business, and eventually take it over.  So, in June of 1965, they moved to Neenah.  John said he was bringing JoAnn to "God's country".  Soon after arriving JoAnn started working at a travel agency in Appleton. One of her perks was being invited to fly on the inaugural flight of Air Wisconsin Airlines.  At that time, they were living in an apartment on the southwest side of Neenah, and it was there that JoAnn gave birth to their 2 boys, Larry and Greg.  She left her job and decided to be a stay-at-home mom, which continued until her time of death.

John was able to convince her to join in some outdoor sports throughout her life such as going goose hunting (once only as she thought it was terribly boring), fishing (also boring), and joining the boys in downhill skiing. She enjoyed the skiing up until the last time she went, which was at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she tore her ACL on the first day there.  The rest of the vacation was spent in the Jackson hospital.  John also convinced her that the family should have a pet dog.  Up to that point she was never around dogs, but soon came to love them.  There were 4, all Labs, as John and the boys were hunters. They were Andy, Stormy, Sunshine, and Bob, and her very favorite was Stormy. For a period of time John was a range supervisor at the Boys and Girls Brigade rifle range in Neenah.  JoAnn joined him, scoring the targets for the boys, and recording the scores.  She also enjoyed helping wrap Christmas gifts for the Brigade gift giving program.  There were a lot of memories made during the summers spent on their boat just cruising, water skiing, and stopping at the Overtime in Menasha to get some onion rings and cheese curds.  She enjoyed classic rock music and actually grabbed a Rod Stewart autographed soccer ball which he kicked into the crowd at a concert in Green Bay. She enjoyed going to the business conventions with John and partying with the other wives.  She made a lot of lifelong friends through those trips.  

JoAnn is survived and will be missed by her husband John of Neenah; her 2 sons, Larry (friend Anita), and Greg (Jean), all of Neenah; grandsons Corey of Kaukauna, and Conner (friend Megan) of Appleton.  She will also be missed by her niece Laura and nephew Mike, of Illinois, and many dear friends she has known and loved throughout the years.

JoAnn's family would like to thank the staff at St. Elizabeth Hospital for their care.  Additional thanks is expressed to the staff at Compassus in Neenah for the hospice care when JoAnn was at home, and Michelle with Westgor Funeral Homes for making the final arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. Gabriel Church, Neenah, or Boys & Girls Brigade, Neenah.

A funeral mass for JoAnn will be held at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday, October 7, 2023 at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, 900 Geiger St., Neenah with Fr. Bob Kollath officiating. A visitation will be held at church from 10:00 A.M. until the hour of service. JoAnn will be laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah.