Janis Dechamps

July 24, 1939
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October 31, 2019

Janis Dechamps went to her heavenly home on October 31, 2019 after losing her battle against congestive heart failure. Janis was born in Ellison Bay, WI on July 24, 1939 to Clarence and Myrtle Wickman. She graduated from Green Bay East High School in 1957. On November 15, 1958, she married her husband Lee and had two beloved children, Mark and Leann.

Janis lived in New Franken, WI on a farm that she owned with her husband Lee for 50 years. When Lee told her he had sold their nice, new, house in town to move out to the old, unfinished farm house she said she wouldn’t go. On the day they were to move she sat in her rocking chair and wouldn’t move a single item, including herself into that old farm house. The moving went on around her and at the end of a long day of moving, when there was nothing left in the house but Jan in her chair, her brothers each took a side, picked up that chair and put it in the moving truck. She rode out to her home on the farm in a rocking chair, in the back of a moving truck, in the dark, in December. At some point in the past 50 years she began to love that farm house. She filled it with countless knickknacks, she filled it with the smell of her home cooked meals and pies, but most importantly she filled it with love. Everyone who walked in the door felt welcome there. Ultimately she became inseparable from that old farm house. When it became clear she would not be well again on this earth she chose to go home to live out her short time remaining in the comfort of that home that she grew so fond of. She left that home the way she came into it, in her rocking chair and putting up a fight. The family finds it ironic and comical and a testament to just how stubborn Jan could really be, and we hope they have rocking chairs and old farm houses in heaven.

Janis had a way to make people feel comfortable and important and loved. She was so close with her family and will be missed deeply. It was often said that Jan was the glue that held the extended family together. Family and friends and relationships were so important to her and she is leaving a void in the hearts of many. She leaves behind her son, Mark (Georgiana Hardy) Dechamps and daughter, Leann (John) Majeski. She will also be intensely missed by her grandchildren, Brad (Becky) Dechamps, Jared (Molly Lindsley) Dechamps, Erika (Jeremy) Vogels, Diana (Brandon) Wenman and Monica Majeski. Great Grandchildren, Kane, Elena, Eden, Gavin, Tyson, Cooper and Mia will also miss their “grandma cookie” as they lovingly called her. She also leaves behind brothers, Darvin Wickman and Lyle (Virginia) Wickman, sister-in-law, Karen (Jim) Duffy; brother-in-law Roger, (Kathy) Dechamps and best friend, Marilyn Conard.

Janis is preceded in death by her husband, Lee Dechamps, who passed away on the day of their 60th wedding anniversary just last November. Janis is also preceded in death by her infant daughter, Michelle, mother and father, Myrtle (Root) Wickman and Clarence Wickman; sister, Luella (Elrey) Manteufel; brothers, Ray Wickman and Roy Wickman; sister-in-law, Marilyn Wickman; brothers-in-law, Dan Dechamps and Robert Swaer; and parents-in-law, Clarence and Hortense Dechamps.

Janis was a devoted wife, a caring mother, a loyal friend, and an amazing grandmother. She loved to have breakfast or lunch with her many close friends old and new. She loved to cook and bake, but never followed a recipe. When her granddaughters would ask her how to make something she would describe her recipes as “pinch of this” or a “handful of that”. She could whip up a meal to feed an army on a moment’s notice, she always made sure there was nobody who left her house unfed or left her table hungry. The most notable quality of Janis was her generous heart, she always made people feel loved and important and always had time for anything having to do with her grandchildren. She will be so missed by so many, but there is comfort in knowing she is no longer lonesome for her love Lee, as they are together in heaven now looking down at the beautiful family they created.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at the Proko-Wall Funeral Home, 1630 E. Mason St., from 1:00 p.m. until the time of service.  Funeral service 4:00 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home with Pastor Brenda Crossfield officiating.  Online condolences may be expressed at www.prokowall.com.