By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
There's a giant void in the New Richland area that in no way can be filled.
Hurricanes are, after all, extremely rare here on the prairie.
No longer will Jane Wagner be there to brighten the day of most anyone she encountered. The area's favorite basketball mom died suddenly last Sunday at the age of 57.
Wagner, nicknamed "Hurricane," a moniker she embraced, was born in 1966 and grew up in New Richland. She met her husband, Darren, in study hall in high school. Together they raised five children: Alex, 35; Danny 32; Carlie, 28; and twins Maddie and Marnie, 25.
“Everybody knows everybody by name,” Jane said in an interview in 2016. “We’re all friends.”
“Her smile would light any room, her heart would heal any hurt,” Carlie, Jane’s oldest daughter, said on Facebook Sunday. “She was the most giving and selfless person, and she loved her family so, so much, and it most definitely showed. Love you Mom.”
The Wagner family can easily be associated with sports, and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.
“Jane was the mom who was at every game and track meet with a bag full of snacks for the kids,” NRHEG Track Coach Duey Ferber told the Star Eagle.
Ferber coached the two Wagner boys Alex and Danny in junior high football and Carlie, Maddie, and Marnie in track for six years. In total, he spent 10 years coaching the Wagner kids.
“She would be bundled up at a cold track meet in her bag chair playfully blaming me for the cold weather and blaming me for her kids being out for track,” Ferber said. “If you would rank Panther fans in the history of NRHEG, she would be at the top.”
Jane would do whatever she could to help those around her.
In an article printed in the Star Eagle last year, Jane’s name, referenced as “New Richland’s most famous basketball mom” slipped into the story. While Gene Amley was being interviewed, Jane walked in.
“Tell me what you want and I’ll bring you something good for supper,” Jane told Gene before scurrying back to town.
Amley was asked if Jane and he were related.
"No," said Amley. "She's just looking in on me."
Other former coaches and teachers have nothing but kind words about Jane.
“Jane was nothing but upbeat, positive and supportive,” NRHEG’s John Schultz shared.
Schultz, either in the head coaching position or through the assistant role, coached Carlie in basketball from grades 3 through 12 and the twins from grades 7-12. He also was a teacher in physical education and health classes for three years to all five Wagner kids, and served as an assistant coach for two years to Danny and Alex when they played football.
“Once you met Jane, you would not forget her. And she would never forget you," said Schultz. "She was very family oriented and her pride and joy was her kids. And for good reason. Her kids are so very kind as well. Jane and Darren did such a great job raising their children. Jane had a high energy personality. She always made you laugh. For this, she earned the nickname “Hurricane Jane.” She will be missed so much.”
“Jane was always introduced as The Hurricane, but often she was the eye of the storm, at the center of a bustling family unit,” Mark Domeier said.
Domeier taught all five Wagner kids in English, coached the boys in junior high baseball, and is the famous “voice of Panthers,” who served as announcer during the Lady Panthers' state championship seasons in 2013 and ‘14.
“As the matriarch of a great family, she was always even more concerned about her kids being good people and working hard than she was about any athletic achievements,” said Domeier.
In another past interview, Carlie credited her humble, grateful attitude to her parents. “The Wagners’ low-key approach to sports parenting gives a strong hint about where Carlie gets her humble, grateful attitude,” the story reads. “The same could be said for New Richland as a whole. People here know about and celebrate Wagner’s athletic accomplishments. But when they say hello to her, it’s because they’re her friends, not because she’s a celebrity. As Jane said: “She’s just Carlie here.”’
As NRHEG knows, she’s just Jane here. She's the Panthers' No. 1 fan.