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Anke Boudreau dedicated her life to helping people suffering tragedies

Anke Boudreau’s three children remember their mother — a woman who dedicated her life to helping people through trauma — as someone who loved deeply and gave generously.



Anke Boudreau with her husband, John Rosenberg. Boudreau dedicated much of her life helping people experiencing tragedy.


JEFF BOUDREAU

“She is the ultimate gift. She showed me how to live a life with love, grace and compassion. My job is to continue with her mission in life,” said her daughter, Dawn Cheney.

Boudreau was killed in a car crash Sept. 26 in Ogallala, Nebraska. she was 76

In addition to being a beloved mother to her children and a grandmother to seven grandchildren, Boudreau was an active member of the Madison community who consistently championed for social equity. She volunteered for numerous organizations across Madison.

“Anyone who has been exposed to my mom has been inspired by my mom,” said her son, Jeff Boudreau.

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After volunteering as a school nurse through the American Red Cross for several years, Boudreau participated in the organization’s disaster relief program. Immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Boudreau spent over a month in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to aid recovery efforts.

Boudreau, who grew up in Bremen, Germany, immigrated to the US at age 18 with her first husband, Lynn Eugene Boudreau. When she arrived in the US, she didn’t speak English very well and had a limited secondary education, family members said. As a young stay-at-home mother, her children remember her as resourceful, fiercely loyal and loving.

“My mom would move mountains to take care of us,” said her son, Jack Boudreau. “I think about living in Africa and really missing my guitar and then my guitar just appears on my doorstep. She managed to figure out how to ship a guitar all the way to Africa.”

Boudreau valued education. When Cheney, Boudreau’s youngest child, started high school, Anke Boudreau decided to go back to school herself. After obtaining her GED and her associate degree, Boudreau attended UW-Milwaukee, where she received her undergraduate degree in social work.

“She was a firm believer in an education and that it could take you anywhere in the world,” Cheney said.

Following graduation, Boudreau worked as a victim witness specialist for the District Attorney’s Office in Milwaukee. A few years later, Boudreau went back to school once again to receive her master’s in education psychology, with an emphasis on forgiveness theory, from UW-Madison.

For nearly 20 years, Boudreau volunteered as a facilitator for grief support groups at Agrace, a hospice organization. Through this work, Boudreau helped hundreds of people navigate intense grief. Jessie Shiveler, Agrace’s community grief manager, who worked closely with Boudreau, said that she was scheduled to co-facilitate another grief group at the end of 2022.

“She was just one of those really special people that connected with people and made them feel special,” Shiveler said. “She valued a group experience and understood what it meant for people to not feel alone in their grief. I think she probably felt really privileged to be able to support people.”

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Along with her work with the the American Red Cross and Agrace, Boudreau volunteered frequently for the Veterans Association for many years and was an enthusiastic supporter of Occupy Madison, a local tiny housing project. Gene Cox, a shop manager for the organization, said Boudreau would often stop in to say hi.

“She always had a smile on her face,” he said. “I feel that she kind of led the neighborhood as far as not having those stereotypes about houseless people and she just treated everyone in the village with dignity and respect.”

Boudreau’s husband, John Rosenberg, was seriously injured in the September crash and is recovering. The family has a memorial for Boudreau scheduled from 1 to 3 pm on Jan. 29 at Gunderson East Funeral and Cremation Care, 5203 Monona Drive.

As they prepare for her memorial, the Boudreau family is hopeful that their mother’s story may encourage others to do their part in making the world a better place — just like she did.

“All three of us have lived our lives inspired by our mother and have tried to make a difference in the world,” Jeff Boudreau said. “We’re all my mom, right? We’re all goofy young mothers with children and mouths to feed and not enough money at the end of the month, and yet we all have that capacity to dig deep and push ourselves to be the best version of ourselves.”

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