JOANNE JOYCE WEINKE

Joanne was a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. She was born and raised in Cathro and lived in the Alpena and Spruce areas all her life. Joanne was always full of mischief, love, and laughter.

Joanne Joyce Irwin was born Jan. 27, 1935, to Lee and Carrie Irwin and was one of eight siblings. She often reminisced about walking through the snow on Irwin Road just to get to school. Her father was an Irishman who loved to dance a jig. Her mother loved to socialize and be with her family.

Growing up in a large family, Joanne understood what it meant to be family. She helped her parents and siblings while working and going to school. She was a drummer in the Alpena High School band. As a young teen, she enjoyed helping her siblings with her nieces and nephews. She was always a little spitfire, standing at 5’1″. She earned the nickname “Alley Jo” for her cruising through the allies of Alpena and taking down clotheslines. She would continue through life by cutting through parking lots and speeding 45 mph in a 25-mph zone and telling the cop her brand new car “could not go that fast.” That gave the Judge a chuckle and earned her a ticket.

Joanne met Art, the love of her life, in 1954. Art came to Alpena as part of the Air National Guard. When they first met, it must have been love at first sight because he told her she was going to be his girl. She did play hard to get but he returned to the area and met Joanne at National Gypsum. She would go on to marry the 6’2″ Wisconsin native on Dec. 11, 1954. Soon, they would welcome their first born, Arthur (Artie). Later they welcomed home four more children, Carrie, Mary, Jeff, and Tina.

Early in life, Joanne worked at Starlite, Kresge’s, National Gypsum’s office and as a telephone switchboard operator. Joanne and Art owned and operated what was later known to be “The Little Brown Jug” on Long Rapids Road while they raised their children. They eventually moved to the Spruce area and in 1974 they purchased Weinke’s Paul Bunyan Lookout. The family worked together to help with the many animals and the maintenance of the tourist attraction. Through the years, the Weinke family were known widely regarding their animals. Art had a love of animals long before, but now he was able to share it with the public and Joanne was always by his side. The book Rascals about a family of raccoons was made into a movie by Walt Disney. All the raccoons in the movie were sent my Art and Joanne, and Walt Disney would go on to receive an Oscar for the movie. The family would also capture and transport porcupines to various zoos around the nation including Chicago, Milwaukee, and San Diego, just to name a few. Local DNR would bring wild animals to them to nurture back to health. Wolper Productions was sent to the Weinke’s private residence where they had porcupines living in captivity. Dave Oyster came and stayed for weeks documenting the behaviors of porcupines, which they never had been able to before. Later, Wolper Productions was known for their involvement in the James Bond movie “Live and Let Die.” They entered numerous animals into the fair such as ducks, chickens and a mountain goat named “Billy.” Art would walk his black bear down U.S.-23 and sometimes this would cause motorists to pause. Joanne would ride runaway horses down the same road with the unfortunate tree snagging her blouse prior to doing so. There was never a dull moment for their children growing up. Joanne would ride go-carts, the snowmobile, and the minibike around the property with the kids and do cartwheels and headstands way into her fifties. Art and Joanne enjoyed car rides, visiting family, playing cards, and creating memories and laughter. Nothing brought them more joy than spending time with family. Joanne loved playing cards with her grandchildren. She always said she was not cheating, but they always knew better. Joanne and her sister Shirley (aka Jellybean) were road warriors. They would get lost trying different roads, laugh about it, only to do it all over again a few days later. They would stop at relatives and eat and, occasionally, enjoy a shot of Hot Damn. Everyone that knew Joanne had a story to tell. She will be deeply missed by her family and special friends.

Joanne is survived by four of her five children; Carrie Markham, Mary (Dave) Bell, Jeff (Amy) Weinke, and Tina (s/o John) Weinke, and eight grandchildren; Chad Markham, Kyle (Stephanie) Bell, Kayla (Heath) Belcher, Tony Weinke, Julia Weinke, Dylan Kirschner, Cole Kirschner and Cody Kirschner and two great-grandchildren; Charlotte Bell and Peyton Belcher. Her husband Art preceded her in death Sept. 21, 1996. She was also preceded in death by her son, Arthur (Artie) July 21, 1968. Visitation will take place at McWilliams Funeral Home in Alpena, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Visitation is at 10 a.m., followed by the funeral at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Pilgrims Rest Cemetery. Online condolences can be registered at mcwilliamsfh.com.