Janice Isaacson

Janice Eline Isaacson, 85, of Eau Claire, died Friday, November 26, 2021 at Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire.

“Jan” was born on February 16, 1936 in Eau Claire to Arthur and Eline (Thompson) Wise. She grew up in the 400 block of Water Street with her parents, attended seventh ward school and loved doting on little sister Joan who was seven years her junior.

From an early age, Jan was taught to have a strong faith in Jesus Christ, to be proud of her Norwegian heritage, and to treat others with love, kindness and respect, values she would carry throughout her life.

As a young child, Jan discovered she had music in her soul and it would be this love of music that would shape the trajectory of her life. She learned to play piano and discovered she had a beautiful voice, singing hymns with the Grace Lutheran Sunday school choir. By the time she reached her teens, her sweet, yet powerful soprano voice was getting noticed and won her leading roles in various musical productions throughout her years at Eau Claire High School.

Jan also loved classic jazz music and in 1952, at the ripe old age of sixteen, started singing lead with Dick Hoff’s high school dance band. At the first practice, Jan was introduced to a baby-faced drummer named Dave Isaacson. It was love at first sight. The attraction was simply undeniable. They fell in love, dated for a couple years, and on September 4, 1954 were married.

They soon had a family and Jan loved being a stay at home mom to Pam and Scott while Dave worked at Uniroyal. She called it her “dream job”. After a couple of transfers for Dave to new jobs in Findlay, OH for a year, and then Texarkana, TX for three years, the family moved back to Eau Claire in 1966.

Jan like to read, do crosswords and word search games. She loved butterflies and enjoyed planting flowers in spring and feeding the chickadees in winter. Occasionally, she’d have her girlfriends over for a game of Password or Scrabble.

Jan’s true calling was in the kitchen; she was an amazing cook and baker. Her favorite thing to do was to make a scrumptious Sunday dinner for family and friends, always concluding the meal with a delicious homemade dessert. Nothing said ‘I love you’ like a plate of Jan’s chicken and biscuits with gravy, or her boiled dinner with ham, cabbage and dumplings, or ‘Klub’, a rib-sticking ethnic Norwegian dish of huge potato dumplings with ground up salt pork and onion inside. And of course, a dessert such as banana cream pie or made from scratch chocolate cake. You never left Jan’s house hungry.

When Jan found herself with an empty nest in the eighties, she took a job at Midlefort Clinic in the housekeeping department and worked there for nearly twenty years. Her coworkers loved Jan and always got a warm smile and a hug from her in the hallways. She would often bake homemade cookies and bring them in to the break room for all to enjoy.

Jan was a loving, giving wife, mom, grandmother, and great-grandma. When both her granddaughters celebrated their seventh birthdays, Grandma Jan made Sandbakkels, a Norwegian cookie made in special scalloped tins, filled them with candy corn and brought them in to their second grade classrooms to hand out as treats. And, in the center of each birthday girl’s cookie was a ring set with her birthstone. Jan loved Norwegian traditions; her grandmother had done the same for her on her seventh birthday.

Jan was baptized, confirmed, and sang in the choir for almost forty years at Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, and more recently, became a member of Saving Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire. It didn’t matter where Jan worshiped the Lord. She used to say, “the church doesn’t have walls, it’s in our hearts because that’s where Jesus is”. Jan loved the Lord and had a childlike faith in Him that guided her life. She truly believed in the power of prayer and practiced it regularly.

Jan was still singing right up to the end of her life. On occasion, she would sing in church in a quartet with husband Dave and adult children, Pam and Scott. Beautiful Savior was her favorite. Even though she suffered from dementia, she knew the words to the hymns she had sung all her life, and just as she had as a little girl, enthusiastically praised God with her beautiful voice. Jan is singing in a heavenly choir now.

I am home in Heaven, dear ones, oh so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty in this everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over, every restless tossing passed.
I am now at peace forever, safely home in Heaven at last.

Janice was preceded in death by her parents, aunts, uncles, and many cousins.

She is survived by her husband of 67 years, David; daughter Pamela (Mark) Crandell of Eau Claire; son Scott Isaacson (Angela Woods) of Eau Claire; sister Joan (Jeffrey) Olmsted of Chippewa Falls; half-brother Bill Wise of Buda, TX; step-brother Jim Coolidge of Eau Claire; step-sister Ann Coolidge of Eau Claire; two granddaughters: Sarah (Christopher) Willger and Lauren (Drew) Davis of Eau Claire; two grandsons: David Jensen of Minneapolis and Ryan Isaacson of Eau Claire; four great-grandsons: Heron Willger, Wrennyn Willger, Orion Willger, and Griffin Davis, all of Eau Claire; three nephews: Brian (Leanne) Flynn and Rick Flynn of Chippewa Falls, and Troy (Sheila) Isaacson of Fall Creek; niece Amy (Paul) Clark of Eau Claire; as well as a great-niece, great-nephew, and many cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 am on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at Stokes, Prock and Mundt Funeral Chapel, 535 S Hillcrest Pkwy, Altoona with Pastor David Irgens officiating. Visitation will take place at 10 am Wednesday at the Funeral Chapel until the time of service. Lunch will follow the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Jan’s name to Saving Grace Lutheran Church, Eau Claire.