Mary Willson

Willson (Burr), Mary Isabelle passed away in Madison, Wisconsin on May 29th following a brief but intense battle with cancer. Mary was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on January 5th, 1932, as the youngest of nine children of Guy Clifton Burr and Mary Belle Burr (Jewett). Mary was raised in Oshkosh and in her youth she worked at the family's grocery business, Burr & Evans Store. She married Raymond Steven Javenkoski and they moved throughout Wisconsin, residing in Elcho, Oshkosh, Mount Horeb and eventually settling in La Crosse/Onalaska, where she raised her three sons. Mary worked as a hostess at the Hoffman House restaurant in La Crosse for many years and she was very active in community theater, playing the lead role in several productions.

Mary was gifted with a beautiful singing voice that she shared with family and friends, starting when she was just three years old. She remained passionate about music and vocal performance throughout her life and was often a featured soloist in the choir at the First Congregational Church in La Crosse. Upon her retirement, she moved to a home in Florida. In 1999, Mary and her partner Kempton Stone began their residence in The Villages (Lady Lake) where she greatly enjoyed many social activities with wonderful neighbor friends, including golf, church choir, watercolor painting, gardening and traveling.

Each summer, Mary and Kemp traveled from their home in Florida to Madison, where she spend time with her sons and watched her grandchildren grow while proudly attending their sporting events, band concerts and theater performances. For four consecutive summers, Mary and her granddaughter Kate attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison's "Grandparents University" program, which offers a unique cross-generational learning experience for families. Beginning in 2008, Mary spent time with her twin grandsons in Chicago as well, playing, singing and reading to them. Mary loved gathering the family for picnics, relaxing during late afternoon car rides in the country (a Burr family tradition), dining out each Friday evening for a fish fry, and stopping-in for laughter-filled visits with extended family and friends.

Mary is survived by her partner Kempton Stone and his family (six children), her ex-husband Raymond Javenkoski of Onalaska, Wisconsin and her three sons and their families: Bruce Javenkoski and Janet Breidel of Middleton, Wisconsin and their sons Bennett Javenkoski and Neal Javenkoski; Brad and Jean Javenkoski of Middleton and their children, Nora and Nick Radtke and Kate Javenkoski; James Javenkoski and Mary Ellen Messner of Chicago, Illinois and their twin sons Gavin Javenkoski and Jackson Javenkoski; her brother Frank Burr and his wife Pat of Oshkosh, her sister-in-law Helen Lord Burr of Oshkosh, her sister-in-law Marilyn Burr of Mesa, Arizona and many adoring nephews and nieces.

A private family service was held Saturday in Oshkosh at Lake View Memorial Park. The family gratefully extends its heartfelt appreciation to the staff of Omni Home Health Care, Brightstar Healthcare, the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics' General Medicine & Palliative Care departments (Madison) and Agrace HospiceCare (Madison) for their professional excellence, dedication to healthcare, sincere compassion and attentive care they offered to our mother during her brave battle. Memorial gifts in Mary's name can be made at www.agracehospicecare.org/donate.

We love you and will dearly miss you. Always, forever, now.