Janice Mae Burkel

Janice Burkel (Coonen), 85, passed away peacefully surrounded by her daughters on August 27, 2026. She was born on December 2, 1940 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Edna Kimps Coonen and Emery Coonen.

On April 18, 1962, Janice married the love of her life, John Burkel, whom she had first met in the second grade. Their story together spanned more than five decades, until John's passing in 2017. Together, they built a busy, loving home and raised seven daughters: Jennifer, Jessica Koehler (Jeff), Joél Payne (Ken), Rachel Zambrowicz (Jim), Rebecca Hoerner (Bill), Belinda, and Jaclyn.

Family was the center of Janice's life and, of all the roles she held, being a mother was the one that mattered most to her.

Seven daughters meant a house filled with activity, noise, laughter, schedules, and very little peace and quiet. Somehow, Janice kept up with all of it. She rarely missed a play, art exhibit, concert, track meet, horse show, dance recital, or sporting event. When her daughters looked up, she was there.

As her family grew, so did her joy. She treasured her six grandchildren: Alec Zambrowicz (Grace), Emily Holmes (Calum), Jeffrey Koehler, Christina Payne, Jonathon Hoerner, and Margaret Hoerner; and her great-grandchildren, Leo Zambrowicz and Mac Zambrowicz. The devotion she gave her daughters carried naturally into her role as grandmother and great-grandmother.

When Janice was seven years old, her family moved to Oneida to take over her grandparents' tavern, where she and her sister, Marlene, grew up. She attended St. Joseph Catholic Grade School and later St. Joseph Academy, graduating in 1959. She continued her education at Alverno College in Milwaukee, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business. Her lifelong love of learning later brought her to St. Norbert College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies and English.

Service to others was woven throughout Janice's life. After graduating from high school, she boarded a train for Greenwood, Mississippi, where she volunteered in community outreach, taught typing and CCD, and accompanied local sisters in their service work. The experience helped shape a conviction she carried throughout her life: she "didn't need a suitcase" to make a difference. There was meaningful work to be done wherever she happened to be.

While attending Alverno, Janice continued volunteering, tutoring and teaching CCD in an inner-city neighborhood. Later, while raising her seven daughters, she became a charter member of CAP (Community Action Program), which helped the Oneida Tribe establish a summer school program. For ten summers, she taught alongside the Franciscan Sisters.

Those summers were especially meaningful to Janice because her daughters could be part of them. She believed that allowing her children to see and participate in service helped nurture in them a sensitivity toward others and a responsibility to become active participants in their communities. For Janice, service was not simply something she did; it was something she hoped to pass on to her family.

Professionally, Janice held a computer position with the Green Bay Post Office, but she was particularly proud of her years in public service. She was elected Hobart Town Clerk for eight two-year terms and served as a Brown County Supervisor for six two-year terms. And, as was so often the case in Janice's life, her work became a family affair. John, her daughters, sons-in-law, and eventually her grandchildren helped put up election signs and hand out fliers in proud support of her memorable "Burkel is Best" campaigns.

During her years in public office, Janice worked on responsible tax laws, important referendums, and appropriate county funding. Her passion for education and community led her to champion issues that did not always receive widespread attention. She was especially proud of successfully fighting to retain bookmobile services for rural communities and supporting funding for a new library branch.

Her commitment to the community continued well beyond elected office. Janice served on the Governing Board of the Neville Public Museum and the Brown County Cultural Council and remained involved in organizations that reflected her many interests, including singing in the church choir, 4-H, Brown County Homemakers, Newcomers and Neighbors, St. Joseph Parish, and LIR (Learning in Retirement).

Despite a life filled with raising children, working, and serving her community, Janice always made room for curiosity and adventure. She loved to travel, with journeys that took her throughout Europe and to China. She loved learning, exploring, meeting people, and experiencing a world beyond her own community.

Janice accomplished much in her lifetime, as a student, teacher, volunteer, public servant, advocate, and community leader. But those accomplishments tell only part of her story.

Her greatest legacy is her family.

It is found in the seven daughters she and John raised, in the grandchildren and great-grandchildren she adored, and in the values she worked so hard to pass along: education, service, curiosity, compassion, and the belief that each person has a responsibility to make their community a little better.

Whether she was sitting in the audience at a school play, standing along the sidelines at a sporting event, teaching children in Oneida, fighting for a rural bookmobile, campaigning with her family beside her, traveling the world, or simply gathering everyone together, Janice showed her family what it meant to be present and involved.

And when they looked up, she was there.

Visitation for Janice will take place at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, September 3rd with visitation at the church from 9:00 am until the funeral service at 11:00 am with Father Paul Paider and Deacon Bobby Doxtator officiating. Burial will take place at the parish cemetery.