By Gary Mays
newseditor@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Staci Jo Markham was a fun-loving woman and dedicated mother, short of stature but full of life, and close to all who knew her - especially in Monroe, where she graduated from high school in 1991.
Friends and family back in her hometown this week are remembering Markham, 37, killed in an ATV crash Saturday in Iron County.
Staci Jo's death comes 14 years after the loss of her beloved sister, Lynn Wyss, who herself was killed in a traffic accident. Now, Staci Jo's father David and mother Joan are struggling to make sense of it all.
"I really don't know why this has happened," said Joan Wyss. "I don't know how to make sense of it, losing the first and then losing the second."
Wyss said her daughter died suddenly after her ATV reportedly struck a tree. Repeated attempts by The Monroe Times to reach the Wisconsin Department of Natural resources ranger at Mercer for information on the crash were unsuccessful.
Staci Jo, Joan Wyss said, had a knack for making friends wherever she went, and was eager to help care for Lynn's children after her death.
After graduating from high school the same year as her future husband, Staci Jo headed for Madison, where she trained to become a radiological tech. Along with her husband, Greg, her daughter, Graci and son Cade, she settled in Germantown, not far from where she'd just started a new job as an orthopedic X-ray technician for the Institute of Milwaukee. It was a job she was grateful to have and eager to learn. She was most recently a technician for GE Medical in Brookfield.
For Carmen Campbell of Monroe, her best friend since childhood, Staci left this life the way she lived it - doing things she loved, with those she loved; and having a good time in the outdoors.
"Staci was a fireplug," said Campbell, who remembered making friends with Staci in kindergarten, and doing all the things kids do, such as building forts.
Through it all the two friends bonded, and remained close until the end.
"She went through lots of things, I went through lots of things, and we were always there for each other," said Campbell, who works at Monroe's East Side Farm Equipment Sales, Inc.
A visitation for Staci Jo is set from 4 to 7 p.m. tonight at Shriner-Hager-Gohlke Funeral Home. Her funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at St. Victor Catholic Church, 1760 14th St. - the same church in which Staci and her husband were married.
Burial will be at Monroe's Greenwood Cemetery. A memorial has been established through the funeral home for Staci's family.
newseditor@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Staci Jo Markham was a fun-loving woman and dedicated mother, short of stature but full of life, and close to all who knew her - especially in Monroe, where she graduated from high school in 1991.
Friends and family back in her hometown this week are remembering Markham, 37, killed in an ATV crash Saturday in Iron County.
Staci Jo's death comes 14 years after the loss of her beloved sister, Lynn Wyss, who herself was killed in a traffic accident. Now, Staci Jo's father David and mother Joan are struggling to make sense of it all.
"I really don't know why this has happened," said Joan Wyss. "I don't know how to make sense of it, losing the first and then losing the second."
Wyss said her daughter died suddenly after her ATV reportedly struck a tree. Repeated attempts by The Monroe Times to reach the Wisconsin Department of Natural resources ranger at Mercer for information on the crash were unsuccessful.
Staci Jo, Joan Wyss said, had a knack for making friends wherever she went, and was eager to help care for Lynn's children after her death.
After graduating from high school the same year as her future husband, Staci Jo headed for Madison, where she trained to become a radiological tech. Along with her husband, Greg, her daughter, Graci and son Cade, she settled in Germantown, not far from where she'd just started a new job as an orthopedic X-ray technician for the Institute of Milwaukee. It was a job she was grateful to have and eager to learn. She was most recently a technician for GE Medical in Brookfield.
For Carmen Campbell of Monroe, her best friend since childhood, Staci left this life the way she lived it - doing things she loved, with those she loved; and having a good time in the outdoors.
"Staci was a fireplug," said Campbell, who remembered making friends with Staci in kindergarten, and doing all the things kids do, such as building forts.
Through it all the two friends bonded, and remained close until the end.
"She went through lots of things, I went through lots of things, and we were always there for each other," said Campbell, who works at Monroe's East Side Farm Equipment Sales, Inc.
A visitation for Staci Jo is set from 4 to 7 p.m. tonight at Shriner-Hager-Gohlke Funeral Home. Her funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at St. Victor Catholic Church, 1760 14th St. - the same church in which Staci and her husband were married.
Burial will be at Monroe's Greenwood Cemetery. A memorial has been established through the funeral home for Staci's family.