Jean Ruth Sponder

Jean R. Sponder

GREENFIELD - Entered into Eternal Life on Sunday, January 1, 2023 at the age of 92. Survived by her son Jeffrey Sponder. Preceded in death by her husband of 29 years, Joseph F. Sponder, her sisters Sophia Holtz and Louise Ekes and her brother William Prohl.

Jean was very fond of her pet birds Paula and J.R. She enjoyed playing cards, going out to eat and attending the Pet Bird Club.

Visitation at the Max A. Sass & Sons Greenridge Chapel on Saturday, January 21 from 10 AM - 12 PM. Memorial Service at 12 PM. Private interment at Forest Home Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial in Jean's name to:

CARE -Center for Animal Rehabilitation and Education - centerforanimalrehab.org

They took care of Paula our Macaw and J.R. our cockatiel for a month when Jeff could not because of injury.

They are a bird Rescue. They are located in Waukesha, WI. Paula and J.R. are going there if they survive Jeff.

The Gabriel Foundation

Thegabrielfoundation.org. They are a parrot and bird rescue. They are located in Colorado. Paula and J.R. are going there if they survive Jeff.

Zoological Society of Milwaukee

Zoosociety.org. They support the Milwaukee County Zoo and the endangered species managed by our Zoo.

Or a charity of your choice

JEAN SPONDER LIFE

Jean Ruth Sponder was born Jean Ruth Prohl on Wednesday, June 9th, 1930 to William and Helen A. (Drom) Prohl. She was a true Depression Baby by being on the way when the depression started. She was the 3rd of 4 children. Her siblings being Sophia (Prohl) Holtz, 8 years older than her, Louise (Prohl) Ekes (pronounced e-kes), 6 years older than her and William or Bill Prohl, 3 years younger than her. She was the only one of her family born in a hospital. She was named by her 2 older sisters. They must have been pretty nice because they gave her a nice name. They lived at 1005 N. 33rd street in a duplex on the corner of 33rd and State Street by what was Concordia College.

When she was 6 they moved to a small farm in what is now Oak Creek on 13th Street between Rawson & Drexel Avenues on the east side of the street. They had chickens, pigs, a cow and a horse. Her dad also raised bees and show pigeons. This farm later became part of the Oak Creek Industrial Park and the remainder became a small subdivision. Jean met her first life long friend Audrey (Esch) (pronounced esh) Conrad who lived across the street. In the country, Jean attended Hickory Grove School, a two-room school house with a library. Jean remembers one time going with her father, Bill, who was a train engineer for the Milwaukee Road and got to ride in the Locomotive. Jean belonged to 4-H and when she was a teenager put on a cooking demonstration with her friend Audrey at State Fair one year.

During the depression people didn’t have a lot and Jean had to wear cardboard in her shoes to make them last when she had holes in them. They saved tinfoil and string.

She attended high school in South Milwaukee for two years, then when her dad had a stroke they had to move back to the city to the duplex on 33rd and State Streets. She took the bus each day to South Milwaukee because she wanted to finish high school there. She graduated from South Milwaukee High school in 1948.

She worked at Gimbels Tastey Town as a waitress where she met another lifelong friend Shirley (Fenon) Koerber (pronounced curber).

She also worked at Northwestern National Insurance company for two years. When she applied there she thought it was Northwestern Mutual Insurance. Back then it was a lot easier to find a job. She met another lifelong friend Alice Tyszka (tish-ka). She also worked at Wholesale Meats where she met her good lifelong friend Eleanor Kett who was her boss at the time. Eleanor was like a big sister to her, taking her places and doing activities with her.

She met her husband Joseph (Joe) Frank Sponder at the Eagles night club on Wisconsin Avenue, a place where young people went to dance, what is now the Rave. They married September 11, 1954 and were married little more than 29 years as Joe died of a heart attack after being in a truck accident at age 57 on December 12, 1983.

They had one son Jeffrey born in 1958.

After they were married they first lived in a garage Joe had built on South 60th street in Franklin while Joe built a house. They peed in a bucket until house was done. That was true love, how many wives would pee in a bucket for their husband. Later they sold the house and moved to an apartment on East Oklahoma Ave. Joe then built a second house at 4076 South 60th Street in Greenfield where she lived since 1958. Jeff was a month old when they moved into the house and the house was not done. In those days you could move into a house even though it was not done.

On their honeymoon they drove to Yellow Stone National Park, no freeways back then, and always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, but missed it on the drive back. It took 13 years but Jean did get to see it this time when they took a trip to Colorado to see Pikes Peak with their son Jeff and Jean’s mother Helen, but this time missed Pikes Peak. Joe was going to drive up in the car but was told he needed a more powerful engine, so they decided to take the bus up the side of the mountain. While they were signing up for the tour there was a bus accident and the bus rolled down the side of the mountain and many people were injured and killed. So, then they decided to take the cog train up and back and the four were waiting for the next cog train to come and it never came. Seems there was a rock slide and the track was blocked so Joe said they weren’t supposed to go up and they came home.

Jean and Joe took other trips but her favorite place was her brother Bill’s cabin in Athelstane, Wisconsin where both families stayed. She remembered everyone climbing in the car and looking for deer at night, riding in her brother Bill’s sawed off Plymouth vehicle through the firelanes, and picnics at Goodman Park among other things.

Jean went back to work in 1966 part-time at Cudahy Marine Bank, where she worked as a bank teller, so that she could buy a scout uniform for Jeff so he could join Cub Scouts because money was tight and also so he could take music lessons. Jean was a Den mother, the treasurer and in the last year of Cub Scouts ran the candy fund raiser and raised the most money up to that time for Pack 611. She sent Jeff out after Easter to sell the remaining candy bars.

Jean worked part-time starting in 1966 and after Joe’s death went full time at Cudahy Marine Bank which became Marine Bank, then Bank One and finally Chase Bank and retired in 1993 being there more than 25 years, when they had a retirement party for her.

After she retired she spent her time going out to eat with friends, playing cards, went on trips with friends and family to Washington D.C., Florida, Holland, Michigan and Branson Missouri. When in Washington D.C., she laid the wreath at the grave of George Washington during a ceremony.

She also donated time to the Parkinson Club, along with her friends Irmgard and Mildred, and was a member and Treasurer of the Greenfield Historical Society of Wisconsin, and was Block Watch Captain, and belonged to Cream City Feathered Friends, a bird club after Jeff purchased an exotic bird, a Hahn’s Macaw which he named Paula in 1995 who is still alive today. In 2006, Jeff brought home another bird, a lutino Cockatiel named J.R. caught by his friend Jeff Rynka’s house. Her son, Jeff could not find the owner so now there were two birds in the house for Jean to enjoy.

Later on, Jeff took Jean and her sister Louise a couple of times to the Hughes family reunion in Iowa City, somewhere she always wanted to go. They both enjoyed going and were able to have sister bonding.

In her latter years Jean was on oxygen which restricted her movements but when she went to renew her driver’s license they wanted to take it from her. She felt that was the one privilege that she did not want to give up. No doctor would sign off allowing her to renew her license. One wrote on the application to test her. So, they did. At 89 years old she took the written test and got a 97 out of 100 questions right and then took the driving test and the instructor said she drove better than most 16-year-olds who take the test.

When Jean got old she said everyone she knew was dead, so Jeff for her 90th Birthday sent post cards, texts and made phone calls asking relatives, friends, and neighbors to send her only birthday cards and Jean got over 130 cards, letters and gifts and she was so appreciative of people that she then proceeded to write hand written thank you letters to each person. Jean was in and out of a couple of care centers and in 2021 Jeff eventually brought her home. She was on hospice the last 2 years of her life and Jeff took care of her while she was on hospice the last 18 months of her life. She always wanted to be home, the care centers were not home. When she went on hospice she called all her friends and relatives and told them she would be gone soon, but they kept passing away and she was still here. Every day she would wake up and say to Jeff “I’m still here why doesn’t GOD take me” Then on December 28th 2022 she went to sit in the chair she sat on every day to wait for Meals on Wheels and didn’t sit on it properly and fell on the floor and broke her left femur bone. This was the beginning of the end. She didn’t really wake up except one time to ask for Leah’s Bear, given to her by the hospice nurse who took care of her 18 months and was not only a nurse but became a friend. We thank her nurse Leah for monitoring her condition. On December 31st, 2022 they moved her to Zilber Hospice where she was expected to live a several days to a few weeks but passed away the next day January 1, 2023 at the age of 92. Jean was a good person and was loved by all family and friends alike.