Jayne T. Brandner

1955-2023

Jayne T. Brandner, 67, of Rib Lake passed away Tuesday, June 13, 2023, after a brave and hardfought battle with an aggressive lung cancer. She was surrounded by her loving family and under a short care with Aspirus Hospice at the time of her passing.

A Celebration of Life, “Mom’s Last Picnic” will take place at 11 a.m. at Rib Lake Ice Age Park and Pavilion, 847 Fayette Avenue, Rib Lake.

Jayne was born July 30, 1955, to John Sr. and Ruth (Schreiner) Quednow of Rib Lake. She started her working life by babysitting the neighbor kids throughout high school. After graduating from Rib Lake High School in 1972, she started working at the Rib Lake Nursing Home in the kitchen. She then tried her hand at a variety of employment positions; Northern Kitchens in Rib Lake, Tannery Lane in Rib Lake, Prentice Travel Center in Prentice, Foster & Smith in Rhinelander. After moving back to Rib Lake from Rhinelander, she was employed by Weather Shield in Medford, Camp 28 in Rib Lake, Nestle in Medford and then finally at Sierra Pacific in Medford up until the day she became ill.

On July 12, 1974, Jayne married Bruce Allen Brandner, and they later divorced in 1988. Together they had eight children, Girl Brandner (born asleep), Boy Brandner (born asleep), Karla (Chris) McMaster of Melbourne, Australia, Linda Illikainen (Al Bonifas) of Iron River, Mich., Luke Brandner (Kari Cottonaro) of Friendship, Thomas (Heather) Brandner of Stevens Point, Rebecca (Jason) Dake of Medford, Pamela (Kurt) Behnke of Marathon City; and her furry girls, Pixie, Bella and Molly. During the years, she “adopted” so many kids that were the friends of all her children as well as many work colleagues. Her heart always had room for one more “kid” to love.

Jayne loved the summertime; she could plant her garden, watch her flowers grow, feed the birds, go fishing, and go on adventures; traveling, four wheeling, chasing neighbor’s cows out of her basement. Jayne loved ducks and collecting ducks. Her flocks lined every surface in her home. When she wasn’t out buying more ducks and plants, she tended to her garden producing so many vegetables that she would send everyone home with some. She loved canning everything fresh from her garden or cooking the most delicious savory and sweet dishes that she would feed to anyone she saw. A lot of recipes were swapped. Jayne was a true Wisconsin woman – she was a tom boy when it came to the outdoor things she could do, she adored doing carpentry, she was so very self-sufficient and possessed nerves of steel. When she wasn’t being a tom boy, she was a true elegant lady. Jayne would cry at sappy movies, adored the pretty flowers in the woods, couldn’t resist shiny jewelry, and would arrive exquisitely dressed for a special occasion. You always knew how you stood with Jayne, she was honest with her feelings from brasssass to warm-hearted hugs and tears – Her honesty and realism was appreciated by many.

Jayne is survived by her children and 12 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; four fur grandchildren; her five sisters and one brother, Gail Dassow of Stetsonville, Phyllis (Alex) Damrow of West Bend, Diane (Ron) Eisner, Jolene Quednow, Virginia Spacher and John Quednow Jr, all of Rib Lake; as well as many nieces and nephews.

She was proceeded in death by her parents, John Sr. and Ruth Quednow; Baby Girl; Baby Boy; niece, Cindy Thums, ex-husband, father of her children, Bruce Brandner, brother-in-law Butch Dassow and her fur-daughter Ginger “Grandma.”

Paid Obituary 138168