Mary Jane Makholm

Mary Jane (Cady) Makholm, 101, formerly of Gillett, died Friday, March 20, 2020, while wintering in Panama City Beach, Florida, with her daughter and son-in-law. Jane Cady was born July 19, 1918, in Chicago. Jane spent her childhood growing up in Chicago with her mother, grandmother and uncle. She was a successful student and on the swim team at Sullivan High School in Chicago. Jane worked for Kemper Insurance where she became a supervisor.

On one of her trips north to Suring where Jane spent weekends and vacations with her mother’s sister and husband, Mildred and Jack O’Callaghan, she met Austin Makholm. Five years later they were married and decided to take over the family farm from Carl and Lena Makholm where they resided from 1941 to 1971. She moved from city girl to country girl and loved almost every minute of it. While Jane was raised Catholic, she was confirmed at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, Suring, in 1941 and has been a member of that congregation since. Upon moving off the farm in 1971, she and her husband Austin lived in rural Gillett until his death in 2003. Jane continued to live in rural Gillett until 2017 when she moved to an assisted living facility in Beloit as an independent resident, to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law.

Survivors are her daughter, Alice (Larry) Olson; two grandchildren, Erik (Elizabeth) Olson and Craig (Shelly) Makholm; four great-grandchildren, Sydney and Quinton Olson; Brock and Brett Makholm.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Agnes Cady, husband, Austin Makholm, and son Ralph Makholm.

Celebration of Life services will be held at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in the Town of Maple Valley, tentatively scheduled for Friday, July 17, 2020, with times to be determined. Jones Funeral Service in Oconto Falls is serving the Olson family.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, memorials may be made to Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, 11005 County Road M, Suring, WI 54174 or Covenant Hospice of Florida, 107 W19th St., Panama City, FL 32402.

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