Dorothy Ann (Swinehart) Jansen, 89, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, passed away at her home on May 1, 2026. She was a cherished wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, and her presence will be deeply missed.
Dorothy was born on September 24, 1936, to Clifford and Rosella (Esser) Swinehart in Lone Rock, Wisconsin. Her father was a cheese maker, and she grew up living above a cheese factory, where her chores included climbing into whey tanks to clean them. It was a job made treacherous by her older brother Don, who occasionally pranked her by slamming the tank doors shut while she was still inside.
Dorothy was educated at Lone Rock schools and graduated from Lone Rock High School in 1954. Education became the primary focus of Dorothy’s life. She graduated from the Platteville State Teachers’ College with a degree in Elementary Education. After her first teaching job in Freeport, Illinois, Dorothy moved to Kenosha and taught at Grant Elementary School. She spent a year teaching in West Allis, Wisconsin, before moving to Karlsruhe, Germany, to teach at the United States Army Airfield Base. In 1964, she returned to the Kenosha Unified School District to teach at Grant Elementary.
Dorothy met the love of her life and husband of 60 years, Deane Jansen, in 1960 in Richland Center, although they were both living and working in Kenosha at the time and likely knew each other as young children in catechism class. Deane was in Kenosha working at American Motors after leaving farm life in Richland Center. They were married on February 19, 1966, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richland Center.
Their first child, Deanna, came home from the hospital on Christmas Day 1966. Daniel was born a little over a year later, and Donica came along in 1971. During this time, Dorothy stayed home to care for her children until they reached school age.
Dorothy began teaching with Kenosha Unified again, this time as a substitute. Later, she would teach second grade for many years at the old Bain Elementary School before moving to Pleasant Prairie Elementary, from where she retired in 1995.
Upon the arrival of her first grandchild, Alison, Dorothy embraced a new role that she held dear. She dedicated a significant amount of time to her seven grandchildren and the two great-grandchildren who followed.
Dorothy could not stay away from education in her retirement and quickly became a volunteer at the Kenosha Literacy Council, where she happily taught adults several days a week. She began her volunteer work at KLC in 1996 and continued until just months prior to her passing. She loved teaching adults to read and felt privileged to work with students from over 40 different countries, all of whom were eager to learn to speak and read English. During this time, she became close with her students, KLC staff, and co-volunteers, many of whom were friends and former teachers who were recruited by Dorothy. In 2004, Dorothy and co-tutor Kathy Carr were awarded the Modern Woodmen Volunteer Service Award, which was just one of the many accolades she would collect for her service to the KLC. She received the George H.W. Bush Daily Point of Light Award in 2005, the State Literacy Tutor of the Year Award (presented by Wisconsin First Lady Jessica Doyle) in 2008, a National Service Impact Award in 2012, and the Governor’s Service Award in 2021. In 2022, she was honored for 25 years of teaching literacy skills to adults at the Kenosha Literacy Council, which led to her being named “Kenoshan of the Week” in November of 2022, highlighting her more than 15,000 volunteer hours to date.
Dorothy loved to travel and did so frequently both before and after marriage. She often talked fondly about sailing to Europe on the Queen Mary and flying to the Holy Land with her sister Donna. When her children were young, the Jansen family spent several weeks a year camping, which generated many memories of crazy adventures and mishaps. She affectionately remembered family trips to South Dakota and Wyoming, Washington, D.C., and Tennessee. Some incidents from those trips caused her to laugh so hard she was unable to tell the stories. After retirement, Dorothy and Deane took more memorable vacations, most notably, an Alaskan cruise and stays in Branson, Missouri, Maine, and Niagara Falls. Dorothy also went on multiple mission trips to La Sagrada Familia, Dominican Republic, to help with eye clinics and other work. She was overjoyed to have her granddaughter, Alison, accompany her on one of those service trips as a teenager.
Dorothy is survived by her loving husband of over 60 years, Deane; her children, Deanna Jansen of Kenosha, Daniel (Lydia Reid) Jansen of DeForest, and Donica (James) Anderson of Los Alamos, New Mexico; a sister, Donna (the late James) Larkosh; grandchildren, Alison (Karl) Shelley, Abigail Jerdee, Samuel Anderson, Caleb Jansen, Madeline Anderson, Zachary Anderson, and Vanessa Anderson; great-grandchildren Elliana Shelley and Ethan Shelley; brother-in-law David (Henrietta) Jansen, sisters-in-law Delores Wanek, and Dawn (Tom) Block; many very special nieces, nephews, and cousins, especially Tom (Sue) McNurlen and Tim McNurlen; neighbor of over 50 years, Alexis Land; and numerous friends from her teaching years, the Kenosha Literacy Council, the Kenosha Home and Community Education club (HCE), the Kenosha Retired Teachers Association, and the Kenosha Catholic Women’s Club. In Dorothy’s own words, while gazing at those gathered around her during her Intensive Care Unit stay, “I am blessed.”
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Clifford and Rosella, her parents in-law Fidelis and Maureta (Wanless) Jansen, her foster-sister Vera Belle (Robert) Wallace, her brother Don Swinehart, sisters-in-law Doris Swinehart, Diane Jankowski, and Donna Kraft, brother-in-law James Larkosh, special aunt and uncle Anna Marie and Merle McNurlen, many other aunts and uncles; and special friend and neighbor Mary Mowry.
Services for Dorothy will be held on Monday, June 8, 2026, so that all of her grandchildren finishing their college semesters can focus on their final exams, as Dorothy surely would have wanted. Visitation will take place from 9:30-11:30 AM at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 7307 40th Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial following at 11:30 AM. Entombment at All Saints Cemetery, 3300 Springbrook Road, will be followed by a luncheon at 2:00 PM (location to be determined).
