Audrey Amelia Nissen, age 84, of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, at the United Pioneer Nursing Home in Luck, Wisconsin.
Audrey was born on June 2, 1941, to parents John (Jack) Langenbach and Elsie (Demulling) Langenbach in Osceola, Wisconsin. Audrey attended the Little Red Schoolhouse at Farmington Center and was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in East Farmington, Wisconsin. She learned how to hunt and fish at a young age from her dad. She especially enjoyed their hunting trips out west together. She learned how to fly fish and tied her own flies. Audrey became one of the first women in Polk County to shoot a deer with a stick bow. Her lifelong passion for nature, hunting, and fishing was passed down to her children and grandchildren.
Her first job was in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, at a photo shop. She took the train from Osceola Depot to work. She’d continue to work at various places, including F&M Plastics, the Arsenal, and Andersen Windows.
Audrey met Dale and the two were wed in St. Paul on Dec. 20, 1972. To this union, they were blessed with two children, Dean and Dawn. She enjoyed reading, cooking, baking, vegetable gardening, food preservation, foraging for berries, butternuts, and mushrooms, playing cards, camping, metal detecting, beekeeping, refinishing furniture, and dealing in antiques. In her later years, she enjoyed visiting the casino and spending time at the cabin, where she’d fish with her children and grandchildren.
Audrey is survived by her husband, Dale Nissen; children, Dean (Amanda) and Dawn (Travis) Schachtner; stepdaughters, Linda (Phil) Eastwood, and Jonna Hoyt; 15 grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; sister, Marian Hawley; siblings-in-law, Steve (Gene) Nissen, John Nissen and Doris Hoyt; nieces and nephews; lifelong friend, Marion Myers; and other extended family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters-in-law, Ione White and Jeanette Larson; and brothers-in-law, Robert Hawley, Robert Nissen and Eric Nissen.
A Celebration of Life will take place on Friday, Nov. 21, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Grandstrand Funeral Home. The evening will close with a memorial service for Audrey at 5 p.m. A private family burial will take place at Mt. Hope in Osceola.
Arrangements are with Grandstrand Funeral Home of Osceola, WI. Condolences can be expressed online at grandstrandfh.com.
