Elaine C. (Stencil) Van Den Busch
Elaine C. (Stencil) Van Den Busch, 92, passed away Monday, August 31, 2020, at home with her family at her side. She was born July 14, 1928, in Green Bay, WI, the daughter of the late William and Julia (Blonde) Stencil. She married the love of her life Vernon Van Den Busch on September 25, 1948. Elaine grew up on a dairy farm in Pine Grove and continued dairy farming with Vernon in the town of Ledgeview until 1986. She was a hard-working woman who not only worked by Vernon’s side on the farm, but also worked at Paper Converting Machine Company for 7 years in the late 1950’s and then worked as a custodian at De Pere High School for 32 years. Elaine passed down her devotion for the Catholic Faith to her family by praying the rosary with diligence and humility.
Elaine was a loving, caring, and generous wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She loved the outdoors and her companion animals. After retirement she could be seen each day walking down the road with her dog Pal and then later her dog Woody. She would trudge through the snow to be sure the “farm cats” were fed and watered daily in the machine shed. Elaine had a zest for life, playing as hard as she worked. In her younger years she loved to polka dance, go on gambling bus trips, and play cards with numerous groups of friends. In her retirement, she and Vernon enjoyed traveling, including two European trips, as well as trips to Las Vegas, Nashville, the Dakotas, and Hawaii.
She is survived by her five children, Tim, Barb, Ann (Joe) Heyrman, Karen Finnel, and Lynn (Joe) Barrett; six grandchildren Greg (Doree) Heyrman, Theresa Beyer, Jeff (MaryJo) Heyrman, Matt Finnel, Andrea (Jason) Maresh, and Andy (Sarah) Finnel; 11 great-grandchildren, Brad (Amanda), Garrett (Mallory), Tehya (Ty), Ryan, Ava, Grace, Morgan, Allen, Charleigh, McCoy, and McKinley. Elaine is further survived by nieces, nephews, other family and friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers Robert, Donald, and Kenneth Stencil, along with her granddaughter, Carrie Heyrman.
Visitation for Elaine will be at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Glenmore, 5840 Apple Rd., De Pere, WI, on Thursday, September 3, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. until the time of Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Paul Demuth officiating. Entombment will be at the Shrine of the Good Shepherd Catholic Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers and other expressions of sympathy a memorial fund is being established. Online condolences may be expressed at www.prokowall.com. The family does encourage the public to practice safe social distancing and masks are appreciated.
The family extends a special thank you to Elaine’s caregivers, son-in-law Joe Barrett, daughters Barb and Lynn, and Shellie Berg for their great care and compassion. Elaine’s family also thanks the nurses and staff at Unity Hospice for their compassionate service during Mum’s final two weeks.
“Remember me with laughter and smiles, cause that’s the way I’ll remember you all. If all you can remember me is with tears, then don’t remember me at all.”