Josephine Venstra Ford Lynaugh

Madison- Josephine Venstra Ford Lynaugh, died on Friday, December 11, 2009 .   She was born on April 9, 1919 to Daniel Ford and Elizabeth Venstra Ford in Madison, Wisconsin.    Jo was a well known actress in Madison during the 1980's and 1990's.   In 1985 Jo was asked by Tom Haig at a Madison Theatre Guild meeting to perform ""The Gin Game"" with him.   They got Jewell Fitzgerald to direct, and for over two years they performed throughout southern Wisconsin.   As a result, Reprise Theatre was born.   They toured with a set of short bits called ""Do You Remember"" and in 1987 did ""Mornings at Seven"" on an elaborate set at the Oakwood Retirement Center.   In 1988 they put on an original music revue called ""Get Up and Go"".   In 1989 ""Reprise on Tour"" took them to 23 venues in and around Dane County, traveling almost 1900 miles.   In the winter of 1990 they performed the two person British show ""The Return of Herbert Bracewell"", again at Oakwood. Jo and Tom started a television show for local cable called ""Senior Beat"". They did 99 shows together over four years.   Jo stayed on for two more years at ""Senior Beat"".   During the summers from 1989 through 1994, Jo and Tom toured southern Wisconsin with ""Reprise on Tour"", one of the more noteable pieces was ""I'm Herbert"" about a dialogue between two forgetful old people.   Jo performed in many community theatre productions.   For Madison Theatre Guild she performed in ""Hedda Gabler"" and ""The Children's Hour"".   For Strollers she performed in ""Foxfire"".   For Madison Civic Rep she performed in ""The Shadow Box"" and ""The Rimers of Eldrich"".   Jo was also founding director for the Positive Aging Theatre and Company Players. They performed throughout Dane County for many years and were the resident theatre of the the Madison Senior Center.     At age 80, in 1999, Jo danced and acted on stage in a Li Chiao-Ping Theatre Production at the Oscar Mayer Theatre.   Not coincidentally, Jo's father Daniel Ford was a professional actor in Madison during the 1910's and 1920's, performing with touring stars when they came to town.   In the late 1960's and 1970's Jo worked at Oriental Specialties on State Street in Madison.   She enjoyed creating window displays and they never lost a window during the anti-war riots of that era.   Jo was a voracious reader of fiction and poetry, a life-long subscriber to the New Yorker and a quick crossword solver.   She also wrote poetry and her poems will be treasured by her family and friends.     Jo married Francis ""Pat"" Lynaugh in 1941.   She lived with Pat's parents, John and Mary, and Pat's sister, Sabina, at their family home in the 500 block of North Frances Street, between State and Langdon Street.   World War II took them to Berkely, CA, where Pat, a Chief Petty Officer, taught navel recruits how to swim.   After the war, they returned along with two children to North Frances Street.   In 1954, now with four children, they moved to Woodrow Street, next to the Edgewood Campus, where Jo remained for 55 years.     Surviving Jo are her four children; Mary Josephine (Robert) Curtin, John Broderick (Gina Scott) Lynaugh, Ann Elizabeth (Tom Harrer) Lynaugh, and Daniel Ford (Shelley Hammond) Lynaugh.   Also surviving Jo are her eleven grandchildren; Colleen Curtin (David) Eith, Casey (Jennifer) Curtin, Kathi (Jim Sommers) Curtin, and Kerri (John Wilke) Curtin.   Also Matthew (Mara) Lynaugh and Megan (Rich Curren) Lynaugh, Max (Sara Yoder) Milverstedt and Ellen Harrer.   Also Ann Marie Lynaugh (Scott) Haynes, Kathleen Lynaugh (Chris) Poff and John (Sarah) Lynaugh.   In addition, Jo is also surived by eleven great grandchildren; Cody, Erin, and Jameson Curtin, Paige and R.J. Sommers, Tegan Lynaugh, Sam Milverstedt, Samantha and Robert Haynes, and Sean and Colin Lynaugh.   Jo is further survived by Janie Sweeney Lynaugh, who was especially attentive to Jo's needs and by her only nephew and niece, Mike (Karen) Larson and Beth ( Wayne) Eilenfeldt.   Jo was preceded in death by her husband Pat in 1987, her mother Elizabeth and father Daniel, and her two sisters, Betty Ford and Mary Jane Ford Bibow.   Also preceding her in death was her companion of 10 years, Julius Ruskin in 1998, a very special aunt, Mary Ford Landgraf and sister-in-law, Sabina Mary Lynaugh, who lived with the family her entire life.   Jo was a wonderful mother and brilliant grandmother.   She had the ability to make each of her progeny feel that they were, truly, her absolute favorite.   We could tell grandma anything and go to her with any problem.   Since everyone confided in her, she has heard it all, and always first.   Her advice, and when necessary, her absolution, kept us all moving forward.   Funeral services will be held at CRESS FUNERAL HOME, 3610 Speedway Rd., on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12 Noon with Hospice Chaplain Steve Zwettler officiating.   A visitation will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of services.   Graveside services will follow at the family plot at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery.   Memorials may be made in memory of Jo to the Porchlight Inc., which serves the homeless.     The family wants to thank the staff at the Harmony House in McFarland for the care given Jo the last two years.   Thanks also to the staff at 11 Tower at Meriter Hospital and to those at the HospiceCare Facility for the care given to Grandma Lynaugh.   During this season of love and joy, please take a moment to raise a glass and celebrate Jo's life.   It was a life well spent, blessed in so many ways, and a blessing to all who knew her.