Anita Louise Mock
Anita Louise Mock, 84, of Nelson, WI passed away on May 16, 2026, at Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire, WI. Anita was born on January 9, 1942, in Minneapolis, MN was adopted by Helmer and Malgie Martinson and was raised in Canby, MN. Anita married Dean Lee Mock on June 17, 1967. She lived a life marked by service to others, devotion to her family, and a life of faith.
Anita graduated from Canby High School in 1960, attended Augsburg College where she earned a degree in early childhood and special education in 1964. While working in various teaching positions, she continued to earn education class credits to maintain her licensure, she completed the equivalence of a Masters degree. Early in her career as an educator she worked in early childhood education in Roseville, MN as well as a special education teacher in several local districts: Durand, Gilmanton, and Pepin. She retired from Pepin in 2002. After retiring, she spent 18 additional years as a substitute teacher until 2020. Anita was a dedicated teacher, always looking for ways to support her students, including sometimes taking students into their home for short-term care out at the farm.
Dean and Anita lived on the Mock family farm on Owen Valley Road, Nelson, WI. There they raised three sons and Anita supported Dean as he ran the family dairy farm. Her children each received some of her spunky personality, she had to be high energy to keep up with three rambunctious boys! Anita also was an eager Grandma, frequently caring for grandchildren over the years. She loved spending time with them and is credited with teaching several of her grandchildren how to drive.
While Anita always knew she was adopted, it was not until later in life that she learned about her birth family. Her birth father was no longer living. She was able to meet her birth mother, Irene, and discovered she had many siblings, some of whom she was able to connect with. This brought great joy to Anita’s life, to build these new relationships.
Music was an important piece of her life in a variety of ways. She loved to tell the story of playing clarinet in the marching band at Augsburg college; they were the band who played for the Minnesota Vikings games. Perhaps this is where her love of purple stems from? As a big sports fan, she was excited for the chance to be on the field, she talked about feeling so small marching past the players. Anita also kept music in her life by playing piano and singing in church choir as well as being a long-standing member of the Lyster Sisters singing ensemble.
Anita was active with her church circle, volunteered at their annual Lutefisk Feeds, and helped serve meals at many church gatherings. She was Chaplin of the Ladies Auxiliary, taught Sunday School, and was active in the ELCA. Anita was also someone who loved to travel, during the years of active farming the trips were less frequent but visits to the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, and WI Dells were fun journeys the family was able to take. She traveled to Cape May, New Jersey for Curtiss’ Coast Guard Basic Training graduation. Brendan was a regular travel companion and recalls taking trips with Anita. Shaun preferred to stay close to home and often helped Dean on the farm while Anita was away. Upon retiring Dean and Anita had more flexibility and were able to take adventures like train trips across Canada, several cruises, family reunions in Montana, and more local site seeing trips. During their retirement years they developed the farm into an oasis with trails in the woods, picnic point as a destination, naming trails after their family members. Dean and Anita enjoyed touring the trails on their land and when in season, Anita was often out picking berries. Another important task Anita spent time on frequently was written correspondence, she had many people she stayed connected to through letter and picture exchanges. She looked forward to staying connected to friends and family in this way.
Anita is survived by her husband of nearly 59 years, Dean: her children Curtiss (Tammie), Brendan (Tina Trueblood- special friend) daughter-in-law Pamela Froemming (Chris); grandchildren, Rebecca Mock (Adam Ackland), Monica Zentgraf, Francesca Zentgraf, Robert Zentgraf, Damian Mock, Cayla Mock, Cassandra Schneider (Cole), Connor Froemming, Cullen Froemming, Zander Mock, Shawn Zabel (Taylor), Aubree Hudson; siblings, Mary Sanko, Dave Sanko and Carol Cantin; many nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Helmer and Malgie (Larson) Martinson; her son, Shaun; her daughter-in-law, Shannon; siblings, Georgia Swanson, Joe Sanko, and Tom Sanko.
A visitation will be held from 4-7 pm on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at Rhiel Funeral Home in Durand, WI. On Monday, June 1st there will be an hour of visitation from 10 -11 am followed by a funeral service at Lyster Lutheran Church in Nelson, WI. Interment will follow the services at North Branch Cemetery. A lunch will be served in the Parish Hall of Lyster Lutheran.
The family would like to thank the medical teams at Mayo hospitals in Rochester and Eau Claire, and the team at The Home Place in Mondovi for their support and care in these last few months.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Lyster Scholarship Fund in memory of Anita.
Anita will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who knew her.
