To anyone who has endured the grief of losing a loved one, the sudden whirlwind of decisions that must be made can be an overwhelming process for families. Having to organize a wake, a funeral, and possibly a celebration of life or memorial in the span of a few days, while simultaneously shouldering an emotional burden, can be a daunting trial. How could this happen? Where will the wake be? How do we pay for the casket and service? They’re all common questions that focus on the sudden finality of a death and the shock of everything can cause one crucial question to be put on the backburner…How are we going to feed everyone who comes to pay their respects?
Thankfully, there is a small group of generous women of the St. Ann Catholic Church in Janesville who will answer the call to help a grieving family with their dining dilemma as their “Funeral Units” have been helping the bereaved one scoop of scalloped potatoes and ham at a time. It should be said that Trinity Lutheran also provides a similar service to the bereaved, but St. Ann with Co-Chairs Donna Wiebold and Ann Carda leading the Funeral Units at the helm, there seems to be more of an organizational flow to their selfless act of kindness. Wiebold explained the true origins of St. Ann’s program with the “Ladies of Church” started in 1990 when Jim Sanberg (sp) started the program with Angie Schulz being the main organizer of the entire operation. In fact, everything Wiebold has learned about the structure of providing the meals was learned directly from Schulz and the group seemed to operate like a well-oiled machine.
At one time, five Funeral Units were in charge of providing meals for those attending the memorial of a loved one lost as Schulz put it, “We had a lot of people helping out and it was just our way of giving back to people during some of their hardest moments in life. If we can help them in any way, we want to and food is the best way to do that.” The process for preparing the impromptu meal all starts with a phone call from the Dennis-Steffel-Omtvedt Funeral Home that’s actually just across the street from the church and after discussing the finer details of how many will attend and any specific requests from the family and the Funeral Units that consist of a handful of volunteers start preparing the meal within a few hours of receiving the call.
The meals are held in the Parish Center inside the church and the meal consists of salads, desserts, a variety of fruits and veggies, and the star course of scalloped potatoes and ham. Neither one of the three ladies could pinpoint just how many services they’ve done since 1990 or how many potatoes they’ve had to peel and cut by hand, but they have prepared food for as many as 370 people and as few as 21. Regardless of the size of the meal they have to prepare, the impact these Ladies of the Church have had on the families they’ve served makes an imminent hand cramp worth it, “This is something we do out of the goodness of our heart and the families are so grateful to have just one less thing on their plate to worry over. We’re grateful to give them that chance and to give everyone a good meal,” said Carda.
As of this report, the St. Ann Ladies of the Church have served six meals in 2024 and their generous acts of kindness toward the bereaved stand out as a pinnacle of selflessness that is hard to come by these days. Having gone through the grief of losing a parent at a young age, I remember being welcomed by a group that supported my family and provided us with weeks worth of casseroles, pastas, and soups all so we didn’t have to worry about putting food on our table. The Ladies of the Church resemble one of the only groups that offer a service like this and maybe a report like this can help spark other churches in nearby areas to offer help to the bereaved…one scoop of scalloped potatoes and ham…at a time.
