Marlene Plaisance

It is with great sadness that the family of Marlene Claire Plaisance, 83, announces her death, on May 18th, at the Mountain Terrace Senior Home. Visitation will be Tuesday evening, May 22nd, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at Brainard Funeral Home, 5712 Memorial Court, Weston. The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd at 11:00 AM at St. Therese Catholic Church, 113 W Kort St, Rothschild, with a visitation from 10:00 AM until the time of service. A private burial will be held at a later date. Marlene was born June 9, 1934 in Wausau, the eldest of six children of Stanley and Clara Skalecke. She grew up in Wausau and graduated from Wausau High School, St. Mary's School of Nursing and Mt. Senario College. While in nursing school in Milwaukee, Marlene met Lou Plaisance, a journalism student at Marquette, and the two were married in 1956. Lou and Marlene raised their four children in Milwaukee, Bismarck, Norfolk, Dayton and Rock Island, before returning to the Wausau area in 1978. Marlene was a loving wife, mother and grandmother, and the center of her large extended family. She was a wonderful model of living every stage of life with love, family, professionalism, faith, community, a curious and open mind, a wide range of interests and talents, an irreverent sense of humor and a great sense of fun. She committed herself to the broader Wausau community as a frequent volunteer and organizer, and as a devoted member of her church and her prayer group of 30 years, which she affectionately called the Holy Rollers. Marlene's quilts are treasured around the country, many of them crafted with the Pine Tree Quilters. She loved biking and music, especially Christmas caroling and playing the accordion, and she and Lou helped develop the Mountain Bay Bike Trail. Marlene worked for nearly 40 years as a nurse, in-service instructor and diabetes educator, many of them at Wausau Hospital. She helped start the Hospice House in Wausau, now part of Aspirus Hospice Services, which cared for her in her final weeks. She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Louis, sons David (Kathie), Thomas (Marcie), Ric (Liz), and daughter Julie (Jim) Nesbitt, grandchildren Joshua, Jason, Emily, Camille, Adrian, Daniel, Abigail and Caitlin, five great grandchildren, brother Mike (Nancy) Skalecke, sister Mary (Terry) Noone, in-laws Susan (James) Beck, Kathy Skalecke, Jim Conrad and Kay Skalecke, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers James and Stanley, Jr., sister Patricia Conrad and grandson Jacob Nesbitt. She will be missed dearly and remembered with love by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers, Marlene's family has requested donations to Aspirus Hospice Services.