Jane Frances Danielson

Jane Frances Danielson,

died 12/1/22 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s dementia. She was born March 12th, 1945, the 10th of 13 children born to Anna and Anton Warzecha. Jane grew up in Opole, MN, on the family farm, and attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse. She learned hard work, the importance of family and she became strongly rooted in her Catholic faith at a young age. This commitment to her faith continued throughout her life. Although her childhood had many momentous challenges, including losing her mother to cancer when Jane was just 11, narrowly escaping a house fire which destroyed the family home, growing up poor with unending responsibilities that surpassed her age, and losing her father to a farming accident when she was 20 years old, she never viewed herself as a victim. Those challenges helped build her faith in both her family and in God.

She ventured to the Twin Cities as a young adult, following in the footsteps of several siblings, and thankfully (reluctantly) agreed to “go out” on a blind date with a co-worker’s stepbrother. As she would later recount - she only said “Yes” to the date because she thought he was home on military leave and would be going away soon. She subsequently found out that Mike Danielson, her future husband, had recently completed his military duty, and wasn’t going anywhere. The couple married in 1969. They subsequently bought their first house in Crystal, MN, and welcomed two children - Joe and Melissa. That first little house wasn’t quite big enough for the four of them, so when Melissa was an infant, they moved to their house in New Hope, MN, where they lived for over four decades. Jane was proud to be a stay-at-home mom. She never missed a school conference and always made sure that a home-cooked hot meal was on the table every night for her family. She was ever the loving mother to both Joe and Melissa.

She was a long-term active member of St Raphael’s Catholic Church in Crystal, where she spent many years sharing her time as a Eucharistic minister as well as bringing communion to the homebound. One of her favorite activities was participating in a prayer group at the church, which she often did on a nearly daily basis. When Joe and Melissa grew older, she sought part-time work outside the home, and particularly enjoyed her last job at a Holiday Inn, where she frequently recounted conversations she had had with kind and interesting guests who were visiting Minnesota from other parts of the country or even world.

In 2003, Jane and Mike welcomed a wonderful son-in-law, when Melissa married John. A few years later, we saw Jane’s eyes sparkle and her smile perhaps bigger than ever before as she welcomed a granddaughter, Madeline Jane in 2010, and a grandson Willem Michael in 2012. Of all of the titles Jane held throughout her life, it seemed likely that “Grandma” was her favorite. She never passed up an opportunity to hold a grandchild, and her hugs were always warm and heartfelt. Even when her mind was severely clouded by Alzheimer’s, while walking the halls at her assisted living complex (just a year ago), when she saw one of her grandchildren at the end of the hall walking towards her, Jane broke out into an actual run. Her arms were spread wide open and she had a giant smile on her face.  She didn’t want to wait a second longer than necessary to hug those kids!  Likewise, in recent weeks, when words were few and far between, the only words she said during an entire visit with the family were “I love you” in response to Madeline hugging Grandma and telling her she loved her. This was Jane's final full sentence, and the words will be cherished as a special gift.

Jane and Mike prioritized family vacations throughout their life together. Many a summer was spent in a rented cabin on some faraway lake exploring the surrounding area and searching for the hot spot on the lake for bass and Northern Pike. There were even long driving trips, with the family. They drove the entire way to California one year and to Florida a few years later. Long days in the car were rewarded by spectacular views of the Grand Canyon (a life-long favorite of Jane’s), Mount Rushmore, the petrified forest, Carlsbad Caverns, Yellowstone National Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, Key West - and of course Disney Land and World, amongst others. Joe and Melissa always enjoyed these family vacations.  After Mike and Jane retired, they continued to enjoy traveling and exploring both the USA and the world together. Jane’s first airplane ride (and Mike’s first since flying home from the Vietnam War) was after they retired, but it wasn’t their last. Among one of the special trips they took together was a trip when Melissa and John took them to visit Poland, the land of Jane’s ancestors. It was truly interesting to visit the tiny little town where her grandparents had lived prior to immigrating to the United States.

Although losing Jane will always be seen as a loss for the family and those who love her, we feel blessed that she is no longer in her body with a mind that has failed her over recent years. She is now where she deserves to be, with the Lord and free.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Anna and Anton Warzecha, as well as her beloved siblings, Alfred Warzecha, Ben Warzecha, Cornelius Warzecha, LaVerne Herlofsky, as well as brothers-in-law, Steve Brenny, Don Herlofsky, Norbert Skaja, George Lentner, Omar O’Connell; sisters-in-law, Elaine Warzecha and Chris Warzecha; niece and nephew, Joyce and Patrick Lentner. She is survived by her beloved husband of 53 years, Michael Danielson; son, Joe Danielson; daughter, Melissa Tschohl; son-in-law, John Tschohl; grandchildren, Madeline and Willem Tschohl, as well as sisters, Sally Lentner, Evelyn Brenny, Bernie Skaja, Reggie (Frank) Fuller, Marlene Warzecha, Irene O’Connell, Mae (Jeff) Held; brother, Alvin (Kay) Warzecha; sisters-in-law, Patricia Warzecha, Shirley Warzecha and Kathleen (Dave) Kosmecki, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM Monday, December 12, 2022, at the Church of Saint Raphael, 7301 Bass Lake Road, Crystal 55428. Visitation one hour prior to Mass, at church, and 4-7 PM Sunday, December 11, 2022 at the Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapels, 3888 West Broadway Avenue, Robbinsdale 55422. A short prayer service, for Jane, will begin at 5:30 PM on Sunday, December 11, at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to the Alzheimer's Association. A link to donate has been added under the donations tab, below Jane's service information.