John Henry Vanney

John Henry Vanney of Cedarburg, died October 22, 2025, at the age of 93. Born in Rhinelander, on May 13, 1932, the son of Minerva (Trotier) and Joseph Vanney, he was one of 10 children.

John grew up on the family farm just outside Rhinelander, attended St. Mary’s School and graduated from Rhinelander High School in 1950. He married Lorraine Lindner in 1951; that union produced four children: Mark, David, Greg and Lori. Following Lorraine’s death in 1969, John married Carol Tipler. She and John added two daughters, Susan and Sarah, to the family.

John joined Rhinelander’s Army National Guard unit, Company B of the Wisconsin 32nd Infantry Division, at age 17 while still in high school. He served in the unit until 1967, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. When the United States went on military alert with the construction of the Berlin Wall, John was part of the 1961-62 call up of the 32nd Division to active duty at Fort Lewis, Washington. His family lived briefly in Tacoma and Yakima, Washington, then.

In addition to his military service, John was employed at Lassig Dairy and Atlas Plywood before beginning a law enforcement career as a patrolman with the Rhinelander Police Department in 1958. He moved to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department in 1959, where he served until 1971. In that year John was appointed the Oneida County zoning administrator. He was proud to earn an associate of arts degree from Nicolet College while serving as zoning administrator. John retired from the zoning office in 1990; in retirement, he continued his service to the county as a member and chair of the Civil Service Commission.

In 2016, John and Carol moved to Thiensville, to be closer to their youngest daughter Sarah and her family. The couple moved to an assisted living apartment at Hamilton House in Cedarburg in 2023. Despite their moves, Rhinelander was home for John.

Born on a farm during the Depression, John learned lessons of hard work and self-sufficiency. When he and Carol built a new home on Spring Drive in the Town of Stella in 1970, John enjoyed clearing land, building a pole barn and fencing in a pasture for horses, building an additional garage for his pickup and Ford tractor, plowing and planting a large garden, and with much help from Carol, canning produce, pickles and sauerkraut. Here John’s carpentry skills evolved into a woodworking hobby.

John built a coop and enclosure where he raised chickens and occasionally pheasants. He added a hunting shack to their 240 acres and enjoyed deer hunting with family, friends and neighbors. John also harnessed their two saddle horses, using the team to skid logs and pull a wagon and sled he refurbished for family hay and sleigh rides.

In 1988, John and Carol built a new house in the Town of Pelican on River Bend Road along the Pelican River; here they continued their gardening and canning, and John put his construction skills to use building a dog kennel, a storage shed and an addition to their garage.

John served as the cook for Carol and his family, and he expanded on that activity by cooking for community dinners at Rhinelander’s First United Methodist Church. John was active in the church in other roles as well, including chairing the finance committee and participating in lay ministry, men’s prayer breakfasts, and bible study.

Gatherings at the holidays or for weddings and other celebrations were important to John. He put an emphasis on extended family gatherings such as the annual Fourth of July picnics and family reunions at Hodag Park or Buck Lake, often organizing old-time games like gunny sack and wheelbarrow races, hoop and stick, and egg toss. Card nights with his siblings and their spouses were regular happenings, and he made a point to invite local relatives for dinner and out-of-town family members for longer stays when they came to Rhinelander to visit. He was grateful for the opportunity to live to see his grandchildren have children; his great-grandchild Bennett brought special joy to his last months.

Fishing and ice fishing for perch became a passion for John in retirement. Whether with family members or fishing buddies Fred Kuhl and Ed Kubesh, he loved the time he spent in his boat on the Wisconsin River and area lakes. With friends, many from the Methodist Church, he traveled annually to various ice fishing locations, including Devils Lake in North Dakota, Lake Winnibigoshish in Minnesota, and Whitefish Lake in Ontario.

Quick with a smile and accompanying joke or story, John’s gregarious nature was ever present. That part of him found its perfect companion in the game of cribbage, at which he excelled. He taught Carol, his children, and grandchildren to play, and he made cribbage boards for anyone who wanted one. John relished the game and formed lasting friendships with those he played with at the Country Bar and Rocky’s outside Rhinelander. He organized tournaments and made shadow box trophies for 29 hands, several of which he recorded himself. John credited the game with keeping his mind sharp throughout his later years, and he continued to laugh and smile and play until his final days. When it came the time that he began to ask “Are we going home now?” or had trouble discarding or counting, his family knew the end was drawing near.

John has now gone to his ultimate home.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Lorraine; his parents, and siblings Victoria, Mary Jane, Joseph Jr., Catherine, Minerva, William, Robert, Donald, and James.

His survivors include his loving wife, Carol; his adult children and their families: Mark Vanney and Diane Matson, St. Paul, Minnesota, and their daughters Kathryn, Laura, and Michelle; David Vanney and Cathy Ruther, also of St. Paul, and daughter Emily (spouse Eamon Duede) and son Adam (spouse Elizabeth and daughter Lana); Greg Vanney, Decorah, Iowa, and sons Peter (spouse Kyleen Carey), Sam (spouse Andrea and sons Archer and Weston), Paul (spouse Kelsey and daughter Lydia); daughter Lori and Rich Woodard, Watertown, and sons Michael (spouse Alexandria and daughter Remi) and Thomas (spouse Camille); daughter Susan and Paul Timmins, Eugene, Oregon; and daughter Sarah and Brandon Zelazoski, Mequon, and son Gabriel (friend Amelia Shawhan) and daughter Leeni (son Bennett).

John is also survived by a sister-in-law, Diane Vanney, along with many nieces and nephews and their families.

The family is grateful for the care John received from the Zablocki Veterans’ Administration Medical Center, Lasata Care Center, and Horizon Home Care and Hospice. 

A celebration of John’s life will be held at the Carlson Funeral Home in Rhinelander on Nov. 15. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. with services following at 11 a.m. Interment will follow in the Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Heifer International, a charitable organization long supported by John and Carol which works to end hunger and poverty. You may also leave your private condolences for the Vanney family at www.carlsonfh.com. The Carlson Funeral Home, 715-369-1414, is serving the Vanney family.