Jean Marie Francis

Jean Marie (Rauscher) Francis, age 73, of Viola, WI, peacefully went to be with the Lord on June 7, 2025.

Born to Frank and Georgene (Schraudner) Rauscher on July 17, 1951, in Chicago, IL, Jean was a 1969 graduate of Saint Francis High School in Wheaton, IL, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She married Gary “Scott” Francis in Minocqua, WI, on May 24, 1975. The couple recently celebrated their 50th anniversary surrounded by family.

Jean was a homemaker, homeschool teacher, and homesteader before working in home health for many decades, retiring in 2020. Throughout her life, she also worked in nursing homes and, in her later years, even served as a lifeguard—demonstrating her enduring energy and love for helping others.

Jean is survived by her mother, of La Crosse; sister, Barbara Donohue of La Crosse; husband; two children, Emily (Andy) Nelson of Viroqua, and Jason (Holly) of Janesville; and three grandchildren, Christian, Patrick, and Alycia. She is also survived by nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Carol; father; godmother and aunt, Annabelle (Schraudner) Brown; and nephew, Angelo Donohue.

Growing up in Lombard, IL, with vacations in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, Jean enjoyed fishing, swimming, sports, arts and crafts, and cherished time with friends and family.

Throughout her well-rounded and joyous life, Jean also had a soft spot for pets and other animals. That love translated to the founding of a hobby farm with her husband in the early 1980s in Minocqua, that featured dairy and angora goats, sheep and chickens. Jean also fell in love with gardening and the fiber arts. She was adept at spinning and knitting.

In 1993, Jean and Gary moved the family to the idyllic “driftless” area of southwest Wisconsin. Sewing was a passion and her crafting skills bloomed into a small business. She became a vendor at craft fairs and had an online presence under the fitting moniker “Wild N Wooly.”

Jean passionately followed the Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers and was always up for road trips with family, including vacations to Leech Lake in Minnesota and games at Lambeau Field.

As a lifelong believer in Christ, faith and family were paramount to Jean and her grandchildren were her greatest treasures. She shared her unique blend of wisdom, love, and expertise through her grandmotherly warmth, enthusiastic support, sewing and crafting, baking, and even gaming.

Jean’s friends and family will fondly recall she always had food in the oven, a craft to busy her hands, a pet at her side and love in her heart.

Private family services will be held. Online condolences may be expressed at www.vossfh.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Gundersen Medical Foundation-Hospice, which was a wonderful support to Jean and her family.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

--1 Corinthians 15:10

Online condolences may be expressed at vossfh.com.

Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home in Viroqua is serving Jean's family.

123 W Decker Street

Viroqua, WI 54665

(608) 637-2100