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Lake Geneva's Brandley called ‘awesome’ presence

Photo

Jane Brandley

LAKE GENEVA — Ellyn Katch Kehoe needed just a moment to digest the sad news.

She didn’t have to search for words to describe Jane Brandley, former mayor of the city of Lake Geneva.

“She was awesome,” Katch Kehoe said.

Brandley, 74, died Monday at her home. She had been sick for only a few months with cancer, several city officials said.

Brandley served one term as mayor of the city starting in 1995.

She also served on the city’s planning commission and parks committee. She served as a member of the Lake Geneva Historical Preservation Commission, among other leadership roles.

It was Brandley who inspired Katch Kehoe to get involved in local politics.

“She was the first woman that really impressed me politically,” said Katch Kehoe, current member and former chairman of the city’s zoning board of appeals.

Brandley was a “beautiful woman who had the ability to step back and listen,” Katch Kehoe said.

Brandley was mayor when the city adopted an ordinance creating the historical preservation commission, said Ken Etten with McCormack + Etten Architects of Lake Geneva.

She served on the commission until the time of her death and had only quietly missed two or three meetings while she was ill, Etten said.

“We just lost a very valuable commission member,” Etten said.

Brandley graduated from Lake Geneva High School in 1953 and from UW-Madison in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in arts education, according to her obituary printed in The Janesville Gazette.

After college, Brandley worked as the parks and recreation director for the Ridgeville Park District in Evanston, Ill. She was a dance instructor and performed professionally as a belly dancer and flamenco dancer, according to her obituary.

Brandley also was the founder and owner of Sterling Appraisal, a real estate appraisal business in Lake Geneva.

Brandley recently built a new home using state-of-the-art conservation construction methods at 766 Sheridan Springs Road, Lake Geneva.

Her family will host a potluck, open house celebration to remember Brandley from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at the new home.

Those interested in attending may contact Brandley’s family at (262) 249-1670. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, the family is accepting donations for a proposed lakeside memorial.

Brandley’s death came as a shock to many who worked with her in the city, including fellow historic preservation commission member Marcie Douglass.

“She was a great member,” Douglass said. “And we’re going to miss her.”