At the opposite end of experience on the Dancing Grannies was Durand, a young grandma who was “super excited” Sunday because she was going to make her debut with the group.
“She danced her way through life,” her husband David Durand said Monday. “She danced when there was no music. She always danced. That describes her personality.”
Besides dancing, Durand had a passion for her grandson, providing care for him four days a week so that her daughter could go to nursing school.
She volunteered for several years as a chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, according to her LinkedIn page and a 2019 church bulletin. The bulletin, from St. Jerome Parish in Oconomowoc, says she turned to work helping the sick and dying after converting to Catholicism.
Before that, she worked for more than 17 years as an elementary school teacher at the Beaver Dam Unified School District.
On Sunday, she posted a picture to her Facebook page, dressed in the blue and white outfit worn by Grannies and holding pom-poms. She wrote that it was her first Dancing Grannies parade.
Her death left her family heartbroken. “Everybody is pretty shocked,” her husband said.
LeAnna Owen: Always encouraging
Owen of Cudahy managed an apartment complex and was an enthusiastic member of the Dancing Grannies.
Owen was full of kindness for her tenants, said Dave Schmidt, who owns the two 32-unit buildings Owen managed.
“She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was the nicest lady,” Schmidt said.
Owen had managed the properties on South Packard Avenue for about 10 years. Before that, she lived at another property Schmidt’s family owned.
“She was the glue that kept that apartment complex running for us,” Schmidt said. “She will be sorely missed.”
Owen was focused on making sure tenants had a positive experience, Schmidt said. She knew, and had relationships with, every tenant.
The Dancing Grannies were an integral part of her identity.
“When she’d bring it up … she would just have this big smile on her face,” Schmidt said.
When a reporter from WDJT-TV (Channel 58) profiled the group in August, Owen’s interview was featured heavily.
“Can you keep up with the group?” reporter Winnie Dortch asked Owen, who was the smallest, shortest dancing granny of the crew.
“Oh, you bet I can,” Owen responded, laughing. “I’m encouraging them. ‘Come on, come on!’ “
Speaking in her sparkly red and white parade costume, Owen recalled a treasured moment when members of the group were recognized by children on a trip to Door County.
“A whole bunch of them got up and came over and started talking to us, and it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re kind of like minor celebrities,’ ” Owen recounted to the reporter.
Owen, a grandmother, leaves behind two sons.
Wilhelm Hospel: Helped the dancers
Hospel was a familiar presence among the Grannies. His wife, Lola, was one of the dancers, and he helped out, ferrying the dancers and making sure everyone had what they needed.
Jim Ray, who identified himself on Facebook as a co-worker of Lola, wrote Monday that he was “absolutely heartbroken.” Another man, Todd Heeter, wrote that Hospel was his former landlord. Heeter said he was at a loss for words after hearing the news that Hospel, who he described as “81 years young,” was dead.
Jane Kulich: A bright light of service
An online fundraiser for Kulich’s family, verified by a GoFundMe spokesperson, called Kulich “loving, beautiful and charismatic mother, grandmother and friend to so many.”
“The world is a much darker place without a woman like this in the world,” the GoFundMe page reads.
According to her LinkedIn page, Kulich described herself as “a very hard worker who enjoys helping others” with “awesome customer service skills.”
She had worked at Citizens Bank as a teller since November of 2020.
Prior to that, Kulich was a caregiver for Visiting Angels, worked as server at Dave’s Family restaurant for nearly four years and worked as a production assistant at Klinke Cleaners for two and a half years.
Kulich had studied medical billing and coding at West Allis’ now-closed Sanford Brown College and she listed the following as causes she cared about: animal welfare, children and human rights.
In a Facebook post, Kulich’s daughter, Taylor Smith, wrote this tribute: “There’s no words. It’s so unreal. My mom was killed last night. We are told she didn’t suffer. Thank God. I’m so grateful I got to have her this long, but damn. She was walking in the parade last night. She was so happy. I love you mom. Rest in peace my beautiful angel.”
Smiles, cheers, warmth: Dancing Grannies reflect
On Monday, the Waukesha community was in deep mourning as people tried to come to terms with the deaths, the injuries, the trauma. It was the kind of event that ripples out into southeast Wisconsin and across the country.
And it will never make sense.
In a post shared on Facebook, the Grannies said: “Our group was doing what they loved, performing in front of crowds in a parade putting smiles on faces of all ages, filling them with joy and happiness.
“While performing the grannies enjoyed hearing the crowds cheers and applause which certainly brought smiles to their faces and warmed their hearts.”
Devi Shastri of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
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