Joelle Marie Houze

Joelle Marie Houze, age 77, passed away on January 27, 2025. She is survived by her two daughters, Selina (age 48), and Aurora (age 37), as well as her four grandchildren. She was born in Strasbourg, France and spent her childhood in Colombia, Mexico and Connecticut. She lived and traveled the world for most of her life, but spent the last 27 years in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

Joelle was a quadrilingual acupuncturist, teacher, artist, and former model and actor. Joelle loved helping to care for others, including animals of all sizes and backgrounds. She also loved working with small children, and was a Sunday School teacher, as well as a Montessori assistant in California. Her most notable acting roles were in The Godfather (1969), The Great Gatsby (1974), and Rollerball (1975). Additionally, she was a trained artist, working with various mediums, whose city banner work has been showcased in Santa Monica, California and Viroqua, Wisconsin. She loved her community and strove to find ways of building bridges of connection to the land of the driftless region, which includes the geomapping of the Wildcat Wheel. Her fierce love of life and compassion for others fueled her with empathy for the less fortunate and hope for a more peaceful world.

Besides her children, Joelle is also survived by her sister Carolena Schuette, and several nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren and many friends.

She was buried on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, at the Viroqua Cemetery. A celebration of life ceremony will take place this summer with a potluck lunch and music. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to be made to the Vernon County Humane Society. Online Condolences may be expressed at www.vossfh.com.

Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.

123 W. Decker St.

Viroqua, WI 54665

608-637-2100