Mary Joan Kaminski

Mary Joan Kaminski was born on September 8, 1948 in Green Bay Wisconsin, as the first child of Carl Kaminski and Joan (Schwalbach) Kaminski. Her family lived in several places in Eastern Wisconsin. She graduated from Fort Atkinson High School in 1966 and studied for a semester at the University of Wisconsin, Steven’s Point. 

Mary Joan moved to Madison and began her professional career as clerical worker for the State of Wisconsin. One of her first assignments was to be the secretary for the University Marching Band and its director Mike Lecrone. One of her duties was proofreading the marching directions for the band on the field. She said that the Band students were always grateful when her careful corrections got everybody on “the same page” and avoided embarrassing collisions on the field. She held several other positions around the University System including a stint at WHA radio. While working for the State, she was very active in Local 2412 of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME, and forged many of her strongest friendships during the strike of 1977

From her very first days working in the Music Department, Mary Joan has also enriched the musical life of Madison by contributing her lovely and powerful Alto voice to the UW Choral Union for more than fifty years , including the entire tenure of two of its most eminent choral conductors. 

Following her retirement from the State, she devoted her energy to producing beautiful quilts for her family members and the luckier of her friends. For many years Mary Joan could only be seen carrying a wooden hoop with a large quilt stretched inside it that she was hand-quilting. This was particularly evident at the many meetings of the Madison Storytellers’ Guild where her quilts often told a more eloquent story than whatever the performer was attempting, 

In recent years, particularly after moving into the All Saints Senior Living Apartments, Mary Joan had taken to knitting as her preferred creative expression. She loved to participate in many of the games and activities at All Saints and managed to actively knit at the same time, giving all her friends and neighbors the chance to enjoy the poetry in wool that cascaded off her needles wherever she went. 

She is survived by her husband of twelve years John A. Loud; her brother David (Carol) Kaminski, Largo, FL; her sisters Patty (Steve) Koehler, Eagle River WI, and Donna (Michael) Manicke, Marshfield, Wi; and her sisters-in-law Margaret (Robert) McCammant, Chicago, IL. and Beth (Vance) Liebman, Evanston IL. as well as many nieces and nephews.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 1, 2024 at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish at the St. James Church, 1128 St. James Ct., Madison. Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the time of services. She will be laid to rest at Natural Path Sanctuary.