Virginia V Mennes

Virginia V. Mennes died Tuesday evening, March 22, 2011 at Oakwood Village, where she had resided for a number of years. She was just a few months short of her 100th birthday. Mrs. Mennes was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 9, 1911 to Marion (Stevens) and Ingman Swinland. Soon after, the family moved to Lakota, North Dakota, where she graduated from Lakota High School as valedictorian. She was awarded a B.A. ""With Distinction"" from the University of Minnesota in 1933. She taught English and Latin in high schools in Whitman and Lakota, ND and in Grantsburg, Neillsville, and Sheboygan, WI. In 1949 and 1950 she was an exchange teacher in Banff, Scotland. She then traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, where she married Dr. Arthur H. Mennes, a high school principal from Sheboygan. Dr. Mennes later became Curriculum Director of the Madison Public Schools. Mrs. Mennes lived and worked in Madison since 1955, initially as a substitute high school teacher and then for many years, until her retirement, as Coordinator of the University of Wisconsin Extension's High School Foreign Language Directed Study Program. She traveled extensively, both with her husband until his death in 1971, and then with friends. Eventually she journeyed to every continent, including Antarctica. She maintained a silver bracelet to which she added a charm from each country she visited. In time, the bracelet grew far too heavy to wear, but she cherished it and kept adding to it nevertheless. She was a member of Midvale Community Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday School for many years. She also belonged to the American Association of University Women, Civics Club, and the John Bell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Survivors include daughters Mary (Edward) Allen of Natick, MA and Karen (Kenneth) Gasper of Richland, WA, four grandchildren (Keith, Kirk, and Kevin Gasper and Kristen Blutke), nine great-grandchildren, and a brother, Thomas Swinland of Devils Lake, N. D. She was preceded in death by two brothers, William and Chester Swinland, and a sister, Kathryn Swinland Herder, as well as her husband. Private burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in Stoughton. A memorial service will be held at the Oakwood Chapel in April at a time to be announced. Memorial donations may be made in her name to Oakwood Village Foundation.