The word “couple” seems inadequate to describe Mary Jane and Basil Wissner. “Doting couple” would be closer, but not quite there. “Soulmates,” maybe? Married for 58 years, the Wissners were known for their community involvement and philanthropy in Eden Prairie, where they lived since the late-1960s. “On a pedestal” is where Basil Wissner kept his wife of 58 years, Mary Jane. The longtime active and philanthropic Eden Prairie residents died a little more than four months apart and were memorialized in a service Oct. 8 at Pax Christi Catholic Community. “They were joined at the hip,” says friend Gary Stevens.…
Author: Mark Weber
Mark Weber
Mark joined the Eden Prairie News as a reporter in 1979, just five years after its start, and spent the next 34 years in various roles including editor and publisher, as well as general manager of the parent company, Southwest Newspapers. He also published Edible Twin Cities magazine. His encore career is serving the nonprofit Eden Prairie Community Foundation as executive director. Mark and his wife, Roma, have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law, and have lived in Eden Prairie since 1984.
Eden Prairie photographer Kelley Regan has captured beauty. Experience her images here, watery jewels dotting the Eden Prairie landscape. Red Rock Lake hosts a majestic eagle and Trumpeter swans in a calm courtship, and sunset closes in on the wooded banks. There’s evidence year-round, but Autumn is a blunt reminder of Eden Prairie’s natural beauty. The community continues to grow and develop while holding fast to its lakes, hills, prairies, and woodlands. At Bryant Lake we see the power and calm of a windsurfer treading ripples and a lush green overlook with deep blue waters. We are enfolded into a…