Joanne Showalter, East Side city council member turned Wisconsin bar owner, dies at 90

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read

Joanne Showalter’s first entry into politics was in 1972 as a stenographer for the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she speed-typed on an IBM Mag typewriter, a precursor to the personal computer. A planned extension of U.S. 61 through St. Paul’s East Side politicized her further, and her successful efforts to stop highway construction at Third Street helped catapult her into elected office and paved the way for the creation of the city’s ongoing district council system.

Showalter, the first secretary of the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council, would go on to become the legislative aide to St. Paul City Council member Patrick Roedler before winning election to his former seat as a city council member herself, and eventually appointment as one of the council’s first female presidents.

Then came a major life change. After serving in office from 1978 to 1982, she bought a bar behind a ballfield in rural St. Croix Valley — Wilson, Wis. (pop: 209) — and lived in the adjoining residence for decades, a position that launched her successful campaign for village mayor.

“She worked it for 37 years,” said her eldest son, John Showalter, on Monday. “My brother and I both retired before she did.”

Showalter, who served alongside St. Paul notables such as broadcaster Vic Tedesco and Mayor George Latimer, died Feb. 22 in Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury, succumbing to injuries from a fall a week earlier, according to her family. She was 90.

Born in Bayport, Minn.

Showalter grew up in Bayport, Minn. and graduated from Stillwater High School before attending the University of Minnesota, where she was one of the first women to march with the University of Minnesota marching band.

Former St. Paul Mayor Jim Scheibel, who served as Showalter’s legislative aide early in his career, recalled her infectious laugh and penchant for storytelling. Showalter, born Joanne Marie McGonigal, was a hearty presence in the St. Patrick’s Day parades through downtown St. Paul and a stalwart advocate for the city’s East Side, where she worked closely with Robert Feikert, a labor leader in the building trades.

Together, they launched S.E.N.C.E. — Saving Endangered Neighborhoods through Community Enterprise — which put young people to work through a carpentry apprenticeship program aimed at building housing in blighted areas.

“Everybody talks about being a working person,” said Scheibel on Monday. “She really was — she really connected with working people.”

Showalter became an advocate for modernizing city services such as the downtown civic center, though not all of her chosen campaigns immediately bore fruit. She teamed with Latimer to support the creation of District Energy, which now provides both heating and cooling to downtown properties, and advocated for another of the mayor’s more controversial endeavors — the Downtown People Mover — an automated tram that never saw the light of day.

Some have labeled the People Mover, however, as a precursor to the Green Line, the light rail corridor that launched from downtown St. Paul in 2014. “Two initiatives Joanne worked on — unified trash hauling and light rail — were adopted and implemented decades after her early sponsorship and support,” John Showalter said.

In 1995, Showalter’s bar — the Poplar Inn — made headlines of a different sort when it ran afoul of Wisconsin’s commercial gambling laws by hosting video gambling without a license. Showalter had brought in two machines that collected nickel bets much like slot machines.

In her case, a bartender paid an undercover agent $10 after he racked up 200 credits on Cherry Master, according to coverage at the time in the Pioneer Press. She was charged with a misdemeanor, alongside the owners of at least nine other taverns.

“The state wants us bar owners to sell their lottery and pull-tab tickets,” said Showalter at the time. “Either gambling is all right for everyone or it isn’t. I would just as soon stop it all.”

Retired at 87

Showalter, who served on the Wilson village board of trustees into her 80s, retired from the bar at age 87 after much cajoling from family. She had resided at White Pines Assisted Living in Cottage Grove since 2019, according to her son.

She was preceded in death by her ex-husband, John W. Showalter, and youngest son, Joseph Showalter, who died in 2021. In addition to her eldest son, she is survived by her daughter-in-law Jodie Showalter and three grandsons.

Her visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Wulff Funeral Home, 2195 Woodlane Drive, Woodbury.

A funeral mass will be held Wednesday at Transfiguration Catholic Church, 6133 15th St. N., Oakdale, with a visitation one hour prior to mass. Interment will be at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Bayport.

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