CEDARBURG and NAPLES - Jane Stover Leske, a devoted nurse, educator and beloved mother and grandmother passed away peacefully on Friday, March 21, 2025 at home after a valiant battle with cancer.

She was born on June 13, 1949 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa but spent her formative years in Germantown, Wisconsin.  She was the daughter of Darvin and Margaret (Harris) Stover, both educators.  She took that calling to heart, along with a love for helping others through nursing.  The story goes that in middle school her mother told her that she had a choice between doing housework or studying.  That was all she needed to hear and became an excellent student.  After finishing her RN at a hospital program in Michigan, she returned to Milwaukee and began working in intensive care and supervising second shift operating room technicians at the VA Hospital while working on her BSN during the day at Marquette University.  Following graduation, she continued working at Community Memorial Hospital while embarking on her Master’s degree in Nursing, also at Marquette.

Jane began her calling as an educator/researcher and took a position as a clinical instructor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM).  After three years, she began her full-time study to earn her PhD in Nursing from UWM.  For most people, that would be enough - but not for student Jane.  Several years later she completed a year-long federal post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Utah.  There she focused on research relating to the families of the critically ill, an area that was very personal to her which she pursued throughout the remainder of her thirty year career at UWM, including receiving a federal grant from NIH.  During that career, she earned tenure and attained full professor status.  A particular accomplishment for which she was most proud was receiving the national Pioneering Spirit award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for her research.  She was also named an Academy of Nursing Fellow.

Jane loved history.  She often joked that she was one of the five people that actually read the Smithsonian Magazine cover to cover.  She also enjoyed travel and was able to tour throughout Europe and Asia.  Jane particularly enjoyed going on cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.  Known for her sharp wit and “shock value” humor, underneath it all she was a very sensitive wife, mother and grandmother.

Jane was predeceased by her parents, her brother, Larry Stover, and son, Sean Leske.  She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Michael; sons Scott and Michael (Laura); sisters Joann Stover and Linda Isnard (Robert); daughter-in-law Kirsten Leske; grandson, Jacob Leske and granddaughters Robin Leske, Katherine Leske and Emma Leske.  She also is survived by many brothers and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews, as well as, friends and colleagues in Wisconsin and Florida.

A Celebration of Life will be planned for late May.  In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the educational institution of your choice.