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William \u201cBill\u201d Johanningmeier of Monona, Iowa passed away peacefully on December 21, 2021 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.\u00a0 He left us too young, but his nearly-70 years was a life well-lived\u2014full of family, friends, triumphs, struggles, fun and love.\u00a0 A self-described \u201cstubborn German,\u201d Bill was a farmer at heart with the soul of a cowboy, whose memory left his family and friends wanting more.<\/p>\n
Bill was born January 29, 1952, the sixth of seven children Willis and Gertrude (Hertrampf) Johanningmeier raised on their Volney, Iowa farm.\u00a0 Gertrude passed away tragically in 1956, but Willis found love again with Mildred Schlitter.\u00a0 They were united in marriage in 1959, simultaneously growing Bill\u2019s already large family with the addition of Mildred’s three children. Bill\u2019s blended family of ten siblings became a foundation that remained strong for the rest of his life.\u00a0 Growing up in a big farming family defined Bill: whether he was farming or working elsewhere, he referred to himself as a farmer (later in life, an \u201cold farmer\u201d).\u00a0 Bill was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church and went to school at MFL where he excelled at wrestling through his junior year before taking a spontaneous break for a Louisiana gulf coast adventure, returning to graduate in 1971.<\/p>\n
Bill met Sally Lipke in the Prairie du Chien bowling alley and a half-century rollercoaster ride began.\u00a0 The high school sweethearts married on November 4, 1971. They farmed and raised their children, Josh and Kymm, on the Yellow River outside Harpers Ferry, Iowa.\u00a0 Bill farmed together with Willis in the early years and later on his own, building a farrow-to-finish hog confinement operation and putting every acre of useful ground to work growing corn. \u00a0For a few years, Bill mixed farming with work at Bituma-Stor.\u00a0 Eventually he and Sally left the Yellow River farm and moved to rural Monona. Bill finished his career at 3M, where he made many good friends.\u00a0 Bill and Sally divorced in 2018 and he remained devoted to assisting with her care until her death in April 2020.<\/p>\n
The Yellow River farm was teaming with wild game and fueled Bill\u2019s lifelong love of hunting, a natural hobby for an instinctive marksman who enjoyed learning, teaching and shooting with others.\u00a0 Whether it was an impromptu shooting lesson in the backyard with family, wingshooting grouse, pheasants or ducks, or whitetail hunting with handgun, muzzleloader, shotgun or rifle, Bill was game.\u00a0 And when it came to shooting games, Bill found his passion in 2000, when he and Josh began many years of competing in Cowboy Action Shooting.\u00a0 Bill shot cowboy matches around the Midwest, including winning the 2010 Iowa State Championship. \u00a0Bill\u2019s favorite big game hunting adventure came in October 2020, when he joined Josh and grandson Lane for a three-generation antelope hunt in Wyoming where (of course) Bill shot the first buck.<\/p>\n
Bill was unwaveringly supportive and never hid his pride in his children and grandchildren. He loved hosting and joining family gatherings, especially when his kids and grandchildren could all get together. \u00a0From campfires and s\u2019mores in the backyard to fireworks and pontoon boat rides on the Mississippi River, family experiences always reigned high. \u00a0Bill reveled in every opportunity to attend any event his grandchildren enjoyed, from sports to the arts. \u00a0When distance posed a challenge for him to join in person, his love and encouragement were constantly felt.<\/p>\n
Bill was always ready for an adventure, and that only intensified in the last few years of his short life on earth. \u00a0He welcomed every occasion to gather with all of his siblings, particularly in \u201cJohanningmeier-Ville\u201d on the Yellow River near the farm where they grew up. \u00a0Bill was blessed to find love again with Cindy Henning, and they enjoyed every moment they had together for over a year.\u00a0 Dining out, UTV rides, and trips to visit Bill\u2019s children and their families in Wisconsin and Michigan were highlights in their short time together. \u00a0He enjoyed the constant companionship of his dog Gunner while at home as well as on his adventures. \u00a0Bill also discovered a renewed sense of faith and joined the Bible Baptist Church in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Bill is survived by his son Josh (Jeanie Eicher) Johanningmeier, of Middleton, WI; daughter Kymm (Rob) Clark, of Kalamazoo, MI; grandchildren Reese, Lane and Tayte Johanningmeier of Middleton, WI, and Vanessa and Daniel Clark of Kalamazoo, MI; four brothers Duane Johanningmeier of Monona, Dean (Barb) Johanningmeier of Cross Plains, WI, Dennis (Candy) Schlitter of Prairie du Chien, WI and Bob Johanningmeier (special friend, Sherrie Hallberg) of Monona; five sisters, Sharon Bruening (special friend, Darrell Rogness) of Monona, JoAnn (John) Eadie of Swisher, Elaine (Kerry) Melcher of Monona, Judy (Dale) Goeke of Waverly and Susan (Brian) Murphy of Waukon; 27 nieces and nephews; and his special friend, Cindy Henning of Monona, Iowa.<\/p>\n
Bill was preceded in death by his former spouse Sally; his mother Gertrude; stepmother Mildred; father Willis; and nephew Trent Eadie.<\/p>\n
Bill\u2019s life will be celebrated with a visitation on Monday, January 3, 2022 from 4-7 pm at Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Monona, Iowa and one hour before services at the church on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Funeral Services will be at 10:00 am on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Monona, Iowa with Rev. Erika Lenth and Pastor Andy Doll as the Officiants.<\/p>\n
Burial will follow in the Monona Cemetery, Monona, Iowa.<\/p>\n
Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Monona, Iowa is helping the family with the arrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
William \u201cBill\u201d Johanningmeier of Monona, Iowa passed away peacefully on December 21, 2021 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.\u00a0 He left us too young, but his nearly-70 years was a life well-lived\u2014full of family, friends, triumphs, struggles, fun and love.\u00a0 A self-described \u201cstubborn German,\u201d Bill was a farmer at heart with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[306],"class_list":["post-12418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries","tag-johanningmeier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12418"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12445,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12418\/revisions\/12445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}