All Obituaries

     Albert “Billy” W. Collins, 70, of Sparta, died Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at his home. He was born on June 14, 1950 in Portland, OR to Henry and Josephine (Francisconi) Collins. He grew up on Longbranch, New Jersey. He served in the US Marine Corp and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan during the Vietnam War.      Albert came to Wisconsin after the service to visit family and vacation. He met Pamella Miller while here and decided to stay....

     David “Butch” L. Koltermann Sr. was born on February 9, 1947 and passed away August 3, 2020 at the age of 73. He was the son of Laura and Willy Koltermann of Bangor, WI. He was one of ten children born and raised in Bangor (8 brothers and 1 sister).      On April 4, 1970, David married Carmen Lane. They were married for 44 years until her death. They had 3 sons, David Jr., Jon (Mary) and Kevin (Mary), settling down in Norwalk, WI in 1979....

Eugene G. Jotham, 73, of Cataract, passed away Monday, August 3, 2020, at his home with his wife by his side. He was born on September 24, 1946, to Roy and Sarah (Livangood) Jotham in Sparta. Eugene grew up on the family farm and lived in Cataract his whole life. He married Bonnie Brown, they had one daughter, Sarah Marie. They later divorced. He married Barbara (Yeoman) Gilbertson in 1979 and gained a step-daughter, Kimberly Gilbertson. Eugene had a love of antique John Deere tractors and...

     LaVonne J. Peterson, 85, of Sparta and formerly of Fennimore, passed away, Monday, August 3, 2020, at her home.      She was born July 2, 1935, to Wayne and Florence (Fry) Feakes. She grew up in the Fennimore area and was a 1953 graduate of Fennimore High School. On January 23, 1955, LaVonne married Roy A. Peterson at the Fennimore United Methodist Church. They lived in Hampshire, Ill., before moving to Sparta. She worked at 1st Community Credit...

     Phyllis Diane Hughes came into this world on the 30 th of August, 1931, the first-born daughter of Otto and Helen Synner of Norwalk, Wisconsin. As with most families in this country during that era, life was difficult and blessings were sparse. Otto moved his family to Sparta, and before long, Phyllis got a new little sister, Shirley, who provided some much-needed companionship. The girls probably never guessed that Sparta would be their home for the rest of their lives....

      Mavis V. Storandt, 92, of Cataract, passed away Sunday, August 2, 2020.       She was born July 27, 1928, at home in the Town of Franklin, Jackson County, Wis., to Arnold and Cepha (Simons) Arneson. On September 21, 1946, Mavis married Robert R. Storandt at the Parsonage of the Melrose United Methodist Church. She enjoyed flowers and gardening, hosting garage sales, going antiquing, playing bingo, watching the Milwaukee Brewers and...

           Kenny R. Bainter, 63, of Sparta, died Thursday, July 30, 2020 at University Hospital, Madison, WI as a result of a motorcycle accident. He was born on June 30, 1957 in Germany to Kenneth J. and Dorothy L. (Bullen) Bainter. He grew up in Sparta and graduated from Sparta High School in 1975. After high school, Kenny served in the US Army for 4 years and the reserves for 17 years. He was stationed in Kentucky.      Kenny...

     Ardis L. Nelson, 76, of West Salem, passed away, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at his home.         He was born June 29, 1944, in Caledonia, Minn., to Alfred and Palma (Hagen) Nelson. On October 27, 1966, Ardis married Sharon Kelly in La Crosse. Together they owned and operated Nelson’s Used Car Sales on Highway 16 in West Salem. He enjoyed fixing John Deere lawnmowers and fixing cars. Ardis loved racing at the La Crosse Fairground...

Ralph B. Hendersin Jr., 91 of Sparta, died Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at his home. He was born to Ralph B. Sr and Doris  (Ripley) Hendersin on July 10, 1929 in Sparta. Ralph grew to adulthood in the Leon area. He attended Leon and Hohn schools and graduated from Sparta High School in 1946 at the age of 16. In the fall this farm kid took the train to Chicago to attend Coyne Electrical School for five months. He served in the U. S. Air Force 1951- 1954, spending a year on duty in...

John Joseph Manka, age 22, of Sparta, Wis., died on July 22, 2020 at his home. He was born in Sparta on September 29, 1997. He graduated from Sparta High School in 2016. John was employed at Matthews Archery, Silica Sand Mine and Inter-Con Construction, respectively. These jobs suited John to a T as he loved bow hunting and driving heavy equipment. He worked hard and he played hard. He cherished the outdoors and was passionate about hunting big and small game; fishing; 4-wheeling in his...