Anna June Christian

Anna June Christian, age 59, passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her family on October 20, 2016 and woke in the arms of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Anna was born on September 27, 1957 to Joseph and Lessie Ledvina in Chicago, Illinois, where she grew up. She attended Proviso East High School through her junior year.  In 1974, she moved to Butternut, Wisconsin where she graduated high school in 1975. It was there she met the love of her life, John R. Christian, while walking to the post office.  The two were married on June 5th, 1976 in Butternut. Over the next 16 years, they grew their family to include six children. Anna attended Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, MI where she obtained her LPN license in 1977. This was the beginning of a beautiful, selfless career as a nurse.  While raising a family, working as a nurse, and milking and feeding the family farm cows, Anna was a committed and loving mother. She chose to model her life after Christ and dedicate herself to serving others.  

As a child, Anna was brought up in the Catholic faith and attended Catholic elementary school. After meeting and marrying John, she became a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. She played the organ during worship services for seven years at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Butternut. In 1989, John and Anna moved their family to Florence, Wisconsin.  Anna continued her nursing education obtaining her Associates Degree in Nursing from Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba, MI in 1994. She then went on to work at Dickinson Memorial Hospital and Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, MI, and Iron County Community Hospital in Iron River, MI.  While working part time and raising her children, she continued with her education. In 1997, she graduated from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with her Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree. She then attended Northern Michigan University where she would go on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Nursing in 1999, which allowed her to start her career as a Nurse Practitioner. That same year, the family moved back to Butternut. Anna began working at Marshfield Clinic with the cardiology team in Wausau, Wisconsin and it was here she discovered her love for heart health.  How fitting that Anna’s true passion would be – quite literally – healing the hearts of those she cared for. She worked at Marshfield Clinic for 6 years until 2005, when the family moved to Freedom, WI.  Anna then began working at Affinity Heart and Lung Center, where she was a provider for patients suffering from heart failure.  After her children were raised, Anna achieved her life-long goal of obtaining her Doctorate in Nursing Practice Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2012. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2014, she chose to continue working while undergoing cancer treatments. Even in illness, Anna saw the opportunity to continue the Lord’s work. She served the Affinity community and her beloved patients until April 2016. 

Anna had a profound love for her family and lived to dote on her grandchildren. She loved nothing more than rocking a sleeping newborn and loved to make each grandchild feel special. She made every holiday special by gifting the kids with tiny trinkets, holiday outfits, or just a simple card.  She religiously wrote letters to her children while they were in training for the military and kept in close contact with cousins and beloved friends over the years. She could always be found busying herself in the kitchen preparing amazing meals. She had perfected the art of “feeding a crowd.”   She loved gardening and canning, planting flowers in the spring, and feeding and watching the birds.  Early on while raising her children, she enjoyed sewing their clothes, making homemade bread, taking them camping and fishing, volunteering with Sunday school and vacation bible school, and teaching her children to always be kind to others. She and John built their marriage showing their children what true love really is when Christ is the center and the two of them just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. The two enjoyed participating in Acts 1 ministries and attending Christian music concerts. Last November they took the trip of their dreams by visiting their son while he was stationed in Germany.  Anna had always wanted to go there and was so thankful for that opportunity.

Anna is survived by her loving husband, John, and six children: Ellen (Michael) Hambel, Darcy (Jason) Murphree, Angela (Todd) Brandenburg, Jillianne Christian, Gina Christian, and John Carl Christian; ten grandchildren: Grace, Aaron, and Gabriella Hambel; Hannah and Cole (Overmon) and Micah Murphree; Parker, Emmett, and Baby Brandenberg; and Isabella Paxton. She is further survived by her father, Joseph Ledvina, her sisters Joyce (Tom) Paski, Theresa Ledvina, Mary (John) Ertl, sisters-in-law Terry Soper, Jane (Jeff) Donner, Carol (Jim) Gerhman, Traci (Tom) Miller,  brothers-in-law Steven Christian and James (Shelley) Christian,  and many nieces and nephews.  She is preceded in death by her mother Lessie, her sister Ila Josephine, her mother-in-law Arly (Paul) Altman and father-in-law Carl Christian and her nephew, Justin Donner. 

A celebration of Anna’s life will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday, October 29, 2016, at Faith Lutheran Church, 601 E. Glendale Ave, Appleton. Family and friends may gather at the church on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service.  In lieu of flowers and in accordance with Anna’s wishes, please send donations to the Anna June Christian Nursing Scholarship Fund which will be created to provide aspiring nurses financial assistance with obtaining their nursing degree. For online condolences, please visit www.verkuilenfh.com.

The family would like to thank ThedaCare at Home Hospice team for their rapid and compassionate care, ThedaCare Oncology, and Mayo Clinic oncology for their care over the past two years, her nursing colleagues for all their love and support, and all those who prayed for Anna and the family during this time.

“Honor her for all that her hands have done,  and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Proverbs 31:31). 

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