Frances M. Henke

PORTAGE  --  Frances M. Henke peacefully slipped the bonds of this existence on June 25, 2015 at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison while surrounded by her closest loved ones.

Born in Packwaukee, Wisconsin on September 5, 1927 to Frank and Martha (Schwochert) Gage, she started down her path in life as a hardworking farm girl and went on to work in a variety of professions at local businesses including the Portage Hosiery Company, the Portage Shoe Mfg. Company, and the Rayovac Corporation.

She was joined in matrimony to Edwin Henke on March 17, 1950. A few years later, she took a long but meaningful hiatus from employment to raise two sons and then resumed work as a housekeeper at the Portage Super 8 Motel, a position she maintained until just ten years ago when she, once again, became a caregiver at the age of 77, this time for her husband.

While her family was ever and always at the very core of her being, she also had a passion for gardening, an affection for nature, and an abiding love for all of God's creatures, including the many pets she cared for throughout her life. Her travels included a long and cherished series of family vacations to Florida along with several sojourns to Door County and a favorite riverside motel in McGregor, Iowa.

Among those called home before her were her beloved husband of 57 years, Edwin, her parents and a brother, Cecil Gage.  She leaves behind two sons, Ron and Randy, and a daughter-in-law, Robyn. Her heart may have stopped but theirs are broken.

Private family funeral services will be held.  Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery. The Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage is assisting the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage.

For those who had the privilege of knowing her, none would contest that a kinder, gentler soul has never walked this earth. Godspeed.

Though our paths do now diverge, let us not say a grim goodbye but rather a heartfelt, "Until we meet again."