Yvonne “Vonnie” McQuade

Yvonne “Vonnie” McQuade, born September 28, 1939, to the late Nellie and Frank (McKeever) Pichette, was the youngest of 13 children—and the last of them to leave this world. From the very beginning, Vonnie understood what it meant to love, to serve, and to take care of others.

As a young girl, she often cared for her father, taking on the role of caretaker long before she had children of her own. She cleaned homes to earn extra money for her family and was never afraid of hard work. That was Vonnie. She didn’t wait for someone else to do what needed to be done. She simply stepped in.

Her faith was the foundation of her life. She loved her God deeply and gave freely of her time and talents to her church and community. She taught religious education at St. Boniface and later continued serving at St. Norbert’s as a wedding and funeral coordinator. She had a gift for making people feel cared for during life’s most important moments, both its celebrations and its goodbyes.

On June 3, 1961, Vonnie married Lawrence “Larry” Douglas McQuade, the love of her life and her best friend. Their love story began at Olson Transportation, where Vonnie worked upstairs while Larry worked at the Red Owl warehouse. The family joke was that Vonnie would walk down the metal staircase on her way to lunch while Larry and his buddies would sit underneath the steps, waiting for a glimpse of her. Somehow, it worked.

Together, Vonnie and Larry built a life, raised their family, and became partners in every sense of the word. Their marriage was built on friendship, faith, family, laughter, and an unwavering commitment to one another. Larry was her best friend, her partner, and the person beside her through all of life’s adventures.

At 50, after years of babysitting and caring for countless children, Vonnie decided it was time to go to work outside the home. She joined Schneider and, in typical Vonnie fashion, she didn’t stay where she started. What began as a billing representative became a career as a manager and leader. She gave everything she did her whole heart. She led people, encouraged people, and made lifelong friends wherever she went.

And that was one of Vonnie’s greatest gifts:

Friends became family.

She had a presence that was impossible to miss. When Vonnie entered a room, people knew it. Her personality was contagious—uplifting, motivating, funny, strong, and full of life. She could be exhausted and hurting and somehow still make everyone else feel okay. She would stop whatever she was doing and give her time to someone who needed her. She never made people feel like a burden. She made them feel important.

Vonnie was the person families leaned on. She helped plan family funerals, stood beside loved ones during hospital stays and end-of-life moments, and somehow found the strength to become everyone else’s strength even when her own heart was hurting.

She loved her children fiercely. She taught them that each person could be different and still carry the same values she held so deeply: faith, family, strength, compassion, and love.

Her grandchildren were her world.

There were overnight sleepovers, Christmas cookie baking, frosting cookies, music always playing, and dancing in the kitchen. There was laughter, chaos, and the kind of love that made ordinary moments become lifelong memories.

Her grandchildren—Brandon, Mackenzie, Christian, and Olivia Londo; Emily, Allie, Libby, and Lilly Niko; and Avrie, Asia, Sophia, Nathan, Kayla, and Chase Heike-McQuade—each held a special place in her heart. And her great-grandchildren brought her another generation to love, spoil, and cheer for.

When Alzheimer’s disease began taking pieces of the woman, she had always been, her family watched with heartbreak as the disease tried to take their mother, grandmother, sister, wife, and friend.

But Alzheimer’s never took Vonnie.

Even as the disease progressed, her spirit remained. At her memory care home, she would often help the other residents, guide them, comfort them, and look after them. She genuinely believed she was there to work.

Of course she did.

Because caring for people wasn’t simply something Vonnie did.

It was who she was.

She spent her entire life taking care of others, from her father as a young girl, to her husband and children, to grandchildren, friends, neighbors, coworkers, parishioners, and eventually the people she met in the very place where she lived.

She never stopped being Vonnie.

Her family is especially grateful to the people who continued to love and show up for her throughout her Alzheimer’s journey.

To her niece Mary Ellen—thank you for never stopping showing up. You came to sit with Mom, took her for rides, spent time with her, and gave her something that mattered more than anything: your presence and your love.

To her niece Sue, who loved her from New York, thank you for making sure distance never stood in the way. Your weekly calls, thoughtful gifts, and constant effort to brighten Mom’s days and lift her spirits meant more than you know.

And to Father Mike—thank you. You were never simply Mom’s priest. She thought of you as the son she never had, and she loved you dearly. You had a special place in her heart, and you became part of our family in every way that mattered. You never hesitated to stop your world offering love, comfort, prayer, and support to Mom and Dad and to all of us. You walked beside our family through some of our most difficult moments, and we will forever be grateful for the love you gave our parents and our family.

These acts of love are part of Mom’s story, too. Because throughout her life, Vonnie gave so much of herself to others—and in her final years, others gave that same love back to her.

Vonnie was a woman of tremendous faith, fierce love, extraordinary strength, and an enormous heart. She gave more than she ever asked for in return. She made people feel seen. She made people feel important. She made people feel like family.

Her greatest legacy is not a job title or an accomplishment.

It is the love she left behind.

Vonnie is survived by her children: Sheila (William) Londo, Debra (Tumama) Niko, Colleen, and Mary Nell (Christopher) Heike; her grandchildren, Brandon, Mackenzie, Christian, Olivia, Emily, Allie, Libby, Lilly, Avrie, Asia, Sophia, Nathan, Kayla, and Chase; and her beloved great-grandchildren, along with countless relatives, friends, and people whose lives she touched.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband and best friend, Lawrence “Larry” Douglas McQuade, and her parents, Nellie and Frank Pichette, as well as her 12 brothers and sisters—the family she loved deeply and missed dearly.

And perhaps, after a lifetime of taking care of everyone else, her family can finally imagine Vonnie being welcomed home.

Her faith carried her through this life.

And now, we trust it carried her home to God, where Larry, her parents, her brothers and sisters, and all the loved ones she missed so dearly were waiting for her.

The youngest of 13. The last to leave.

A wife. A mother. A grandmother. A great-grandmother. A sister. A friend.

A caretaker. A leader. A woman of faith.

A woman who loved fiercely and gave endlessly.

And forever, our Vonnie.

She spent her life opening doors for others.

Now, we hope heaven opened one for her.

Friends may call at Ryan Funeral Home 305 N Tenth Street, De Pere on Sunday, August 30, 2026, from 4:00 PM, until sharing of stories at 6:30 PM to bring the evening to a close. Visitation will continue Monday morning at Old St. Joe’s Church at St. Norbert College 123 Grant St. De Pere from 8:30 AM until Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM with Fr. Michael Brennan O.Praem officiating. Burial will take place at Allouez Catholic Cemetery.