James Whalen
James Leo Whalen, age 92, of Augusta, WI died Thursday, June 20, 2019 at Augusta Health and Rehabilitation. A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 28 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, located at 1812 Lynn Avenue, Altoona, WI. Visitation will be held from 9-11 a.m. prior to the funeral service at the church. Burial will follow at St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Cumberland, WI.
Jim was born May 11, 1927 in Waukon, the son of William and Agnes Danaher Whalen. He grew up on the family farm in rural Waukon (Lycurgus) and graduated from St. Patrick’s High School, Waukon in 1945. He married Joyce Lorene Brooks in Decorah in 1947. Joyce passed away in February of 1982. In 1994, Jim married Bessie Warner in Eau Claire, WI and they enjoyed 25 years together.
Jim is survived by his wife, Bessie; his children: Kathleen (David) Marschinke, Bill (Kathy) Whalen, Brian (Laurie) Whalen, Brad (Rhonda) Whalen, Bob (Cynthia) Whalen, Julie (Carol) Whalen, Wendy (Vern) Luedtke, Wade (Cheryl) Warner, Cole (Anne) Warner and Dusty (Joyce) Warner; a daughter-in-law, Cindy Warner; and his sisters-in-law, Lee Whalen, Bernadette Whalen and Dorothy Brooks.
In addition to his first wife, Joyce, Jim was preceded in death by his son, Barry (1964); Bessie’s children: Crystal Warner Dake (1976), Kit Warner (2012) and Becky Warner Wilkinson (2017); and Becky’s husband, Don “Butch” Wilkinson (2017).
Jim was the last of his nuclear family, preceded in death by his parents, William and Agnes Danaher Whalen; his stepmother, Hazel Kelleher Zoll Whalen; his siblings, Emmett, Donald, Patrick, Daniel, Julia, Anna Mae Whalen Curtin, Dorothy Whalen Davis, Delores Whalen McDowell, Mary Zoll Mauss, Myrtle Zoll Larson, Vivian Zoll and Jim Zoll. He was proud to be a Whalen from Lycurgus.
Jim loved his family: his wife, Bessie, sons and daughters, many adoring grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and their families. He knew us all by name - amazing! Jim took every opportunity to tell us and show us that there’s nothing more important than faith and family and that you can never have too many friends. He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.
The family extends sincere thanks to Augusta Health and Rehabilitation and Heartland Hospice for taking good care of Jim in recent months. Online condolences can be left at www.andersonfhaugusta.com.
