Obituary for Kristy Marie Banaszak (Watchke)
Kristy Marie Banaszak (née Watchke), age 59, entered eternal life on December 31, 2021, due to complications from Covid-19.
Kristy was born on May 24, 1962, in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Howard and Alice (née Herbst) Watchke. She became involved in music starting at age 8, studying piano and flute, and graduated from Blaine Senior High School. She attended Dr. Martin Luther College and received her first call to First Lutheran in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where she taught primary grades and music. Throughout her adult life she also served as a church organist and choir director. She met her husband, Tom, when he received a call to First Lutheran in 1986, and they were married on July 21, 1990. They had two children, Kaila (’93) and Seth (’95). The family moved to Jackson in 1999 and became members of Morning Star Lutheran. While raising children, Kristy worked various jobs including piano teacher, chiropractic assistant, and account manager in health insurance. In the summer of 2021, she took a call to return to Christian education at Morning Star where she served as the Learning Center teacher, providing remedial education to students in grades 1-8.
In 2005 Kristy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The Lord used this trial to give Kristy the amazing opportunity to travel to Tanzania in 2011 to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with a group of individuals also battling MS and Parkinson's disease. This incredible journey impacted Kristy’s life forever, and her story is recorded in the book “More Than a Mountain: Our Leap of Faith.” One of Kristy’s greatest joys was passing on her love of music to her children. This included years of violin lessons for Kaila and cello lessons for Seth, Suzuki camps, and many performances. She loved traveling with her family, and her favorite trips included Czech Republic and Mexico. Kristy enjoyed scrapbooking, hiking, playing piano, and snuggling with her cats, Alex and Harrison.
A major goal in Kristy’s parenthood was to have her two children love each other, which has and will always remain true. Her faith in her Savior Jesus was evident to all, even in her final days.
Kristy is survived by her husband, Thomas; her children Kaila (Rick) and Seth; her parents Howard and Alice; her sisters Karie (Mark) and Kim (Al); as well as nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
A celebration of Kristy’s life and victory in Christ will be held on Saturday, January 8, at 2:00PM at Morning Star Lutheran Church in Jackson, WI. For those unable to attend in person, the worship service will be streamed and recorded for online access and can be found on the Morning Star YouTube channel at: youtube.com/user/MorningStarWELS. The family has chosen to forego a visitation at this time and looks forward to having personal gatherings with family and friends in the weeks and months to come.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Kristy’s honor to:
Morning Star EMBRACE campaign to build an Early Childhood Center and an elementary school addition (morningstarwels.org/online-giving)
National Multiple Sclerosis Society – The Kristy Banaszak Memorial (mssociety.donordrive.com/campaign/The-Kristy-Banaszak-Memorial)
Kristy was born on May 24, 1962, in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Howard and Alice (née Herbst) Watchke. She became involved in music starting at age 8, studying piano and flute, and graduated from Blaine Senior High School. She attended Dr. Martin Luther College and received her first call to First Lutheran in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where she taught primary grades and music. Throughout her adult life she also served as a church organist and choir director. She met her husband, Tom, when he received a call to First Lutheran in 1986, and they were married on July 21, 1990. They had two children, Kaila (’93) and Seth (’95). The family moved to Jackson in 1999 and became members of Morning Star Lutheran. While raising children, Kristy worked various jobs including piano teacher, chiropractic assistant, and account manager in health insurance. In the summer of 2021, she took a call to return to Christian education at Morning Star where she served as the Learning Center teacher, providing remedial education to students in grades 1-8.
In 2005 Kristy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The Lord used this trial to give Kristy the amazing opportunity to travel to Tanzania in 2011 to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with a group of individuals also battling MS and Parkinson's disease. This incredible journey impacted Kristy’s life forever, and her story is recorded in the book “More Than a Mountain: Our Leap of Faith.” One of Kristy’s greatest joys was passing on her love of music to her children. This included years of violin lessons for Kaila and cello lessons for Seth, Suzuki camps, and many performances. She loved traveling with her family, and her favorite trips included Czech Republic and Mexico. Kristy enjoyed scrapbooking, hiking, playing piano, and snuggling with her cats, Alex and Harrison.
A major goal in Kristy’s parenthood was to have her two children love each other, which has and will always remain true. Her faith in her Savior Jesus was evident to all, even in her final days.
Kristy is survived by her husband, Thomas; her children Kaila (Rick) and Seth; her parents Howard and Alice; her sisters Karie (Mark) and Kim (Al); as well as nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
A celebration of Kristy’s life and victory in Christ will be held on Saturday, January 8, at 2:00PM at Morning Star Lutheran Church in Jackson, WI. For those unable to attend in person, the worship service will be streamed and recorded for online access and can be found on the Morning Star YouTube channel at: youtube.com/user/MorningStarWELS. The family has chosen to forego a visitation at this time and looks forward to having personal gatherings with family and friends in the weeks and months to come.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Kristy’s honor to:
Morning Star EMBRACE campaign to build an Early Childhood Center and an elementary school addition (morningstarwels.org/online-giving)
National Multiple Sclerosis Society – The Kristy Banaszak Memorial (mssociety.donordrive.com/campaign/The-Kristy-Banaszak-Memorial)