Lucille M. Wankerl

Lucille M. Wankerl, 93, Plain, WI died peacefully in her sleep October 12, 2025 at Maplewood Memory Care in Sauk City. She was born on May 26, 1932 to Joseph and Leona (Paulus) Lechner. She was educated at St. Luke School, Plain, WI. She married Joseph Wankerl 73 years ago on April 29, 1952 and raised 6 children; Ken, Fr. Gary, LuAnn, Dan, Mary and Beth. Together they farmed and operated the JKL True Value Hardware Store in Plain. She and Joe served for 19 years on the Sauk County Farm Bureau. She was a local 4-H Club Leader for many years and assisted with countless programs at St. Luke School. She sang in the St. Luke Choir and played piano for her family entertainment. She was an accomplished seamstress sewing and mending clothes for her family and friends. Later in life she attended adult classes at River Valley High School honing her artistic abilities painting and making pottery. After retiring from work on the farms and the hardware store she worked part-time at Lands' End in Dodgeville and began to weave rugs from worn blue jeans in her extensive home craft rooms.
Like her husband, she was a first generation American with her roots in Bavaria, Germany traveling often to Treffelstein and Waldmunchen where her father and family were born and lived.
She will be missed for her warm, calming and compassionate spirit; her gifts of faith in God and virtues of patience and love for her family and everyone she met.
She is survived by her children; Ken and (Renee) North Freedom, WI, Fr. Gary, Dodgeville, WI, LuAnn, Lake Forest, CA, Dan (Jo Husom) Plain, WI, Mary (Mark Peck), Township of Arena, WI, son-in-law, Meikel Nagel, Anthem, AZ, 6 grandchildren; Tonia Greenwood, Shaun Murray, Colin (Caitlin) Friedman, Taylor Friedman, Garrett (Jennette) Peck and Nathan Peck; 6 great-grandchildren and sisters; Irene (Don) Ragatz, Danbury, CT and Doris (Bob) Hayes, Prescott Valley, AZ and their families; brother-in-law Anthony Wankerl, Sauk City and sister-in-law Delores Sunder, greater Minneapolis St. Paul, MN.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph, 4 months ago; her daughter Beth; grandson, Tully; brothers and sisters-in-law: Ed and June Wankerl, John and Rose Wankerl, Louis Wankerl, Alvin and Marie Vogt, Jerry and Florence Durst, Sylvester and Rose Ruhland, Dorothy Unger/ William Anderson, Lorraine Wankerl and Charles Sunder.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Luke Church, Plain, WI with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation will take place at the church on Thursday, November 6, 2025 from 9:30 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to St. Luke Church or St. Luke School.
Online condolences available at www.staffordfuneralhomes.com The Richardson-Stafford Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.