JOHNSON CREEK — Don Voss and his wife Ardis were always ready for a ride. It was their unwavering love for motorcycles and each other that helped their romance develop on the open road and blossom into 43 years of marriage.
“Don was 16 when he got his first motorcycle and I always dated guys who had motorcycles,” said Ardis Voss. “My niece was going out with his little brother and I had just gotten my license and took her over to see him. Don was there and we went out ever since.”
In 2014, not long after purchasing their first Can-Am Spyder, Don and Ardis went to buy a trailer for their motorcycle from Rob’s Performance Motorsports in Johnson Creek. While there, they were invited to join Rob’s SOAR Group, for Spyder Owners and Ryders of the unique three-wheeled motorcycle.
SOAR members take day-long or overnight rides on the third Saturday of every month from March to October and travel throughout Wisconsin or other neighboring states.
Each time, a different person or couple maps out a group ride to a specific destination where they have lunch or dinner along with a quick stop for everyone’s favorite — getting ice cream.
SOAR gave Don and Ardis an outlet to meet other motorcycle enthusiasts who shared their passion for riding and doing something they love.
“We always enjoyed the 360-degree view that riding on a motorcycle gives you along with the beautiful scenery, and being together was important to us,” Voss said. “Those were our date nights.”
With the sky overhead and the road at their feet, every ride was an exhilarating adventure. They ended up making many genuine connections and meaningful friendships.
Ardis and Don were approaching their tenth anniversary with SOAR last August when she started to notice some changes in her husband. Don wasn’t his normal self. He started getting more forgetful and was suffering from terrible headaches.
Ardis knew something was wrong when Don went out for a motorcycle ride with a friend one October weekend and couldn’t find his way home.
“We had Life360 on his phone and were able to track his location,” Voss said. “I noticed he went past his turnoffs twice. I called 911 and police officers zeroed in on him and brought him home.”
A few days later, a CT scan confirmed Don had malignant brain tumors. At the end of October, he had surgery to remove the tumors and then started radiation for 40 days.
Doctors did what they could but following a month of treatments, an MRI revealed that the tumors had spread to other parts of Don’s brain.
After conversations with Don’s doctors, the Voss family discovered Rainbow Community Care was more than willing to come to their Hartford home. Don started receiving Rainbow’s home hospice care services in February. Ardis was impressed with the extraordinary care Don received from his nurse case manager, Kate Trapp, and social worker, Catie Hunter, and how they made the family feel special every time they came to visit.
“They became like family too,” Voss said. “We were bombarded with people showing up and they pitched in and helped take care of everything, even the grandbabies.”
Kate and Catie quickly forged a bond with the Voss family when they started helping Don navigate his end-of-life journey.
“Don’s family became special to me right off the bat,” Hunter said. “Don’s daughter, Kelly, introduced us to her twin baby girls and they became a highlight every time I visited. We’d sit around the kitchen table, look at family photos and talk about funny memories of Don. Usually, Kate and I would each hold a baby to give Kelly and Ardis a break.”
When SOAR found out about Don’s diagnosis, they didn’t hesitate to step up. SOAR hosts several fundraising events and safety presentations throughout the year that benefit the Road Warrior Foundation and other charitable causes, including food drives for the Johnson Creek Food Pantry.
During the group’s holiday party, a silent auction and 50/50 raffle raised around $3,800 in honor of Don. That money was then donated to the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA).
“Don and Ardis are just genuine, super caring people,” said Kory Keller, Rob’s Business Office Manager, who organized the event. “Shortly before Don was diagnosed, they led a ride, bought all the meat, cooked all the food and had everybody over to their house. That’s the kind of people they are.”
Even though Don’s health was declining and he was in a great deal of pain, he still was able to attend SOAR’s party at Rob’s in December. That meant a lot to him and everyone who got the chance to know him.
“I’ve never met someone whose faith was such a positive influence,” Keller said. “Don said in one of his texts, ‘Please don’t pray for me but for my family because I know they’ll be sad when I’m gone.’ It still makes me emotional because I was so happy their whole family had the kind of faith that enabled them to get through something like this.”
Keller and SOAR organized another benefit on March 9th to honor Don and give him a chance to say a final goodbye to his SOAR friends.
But Don passed away on March 1, 2024, at his home in Hartford at age 69. He missed the benefit by a week, but his family thinks he would have been thrilled with the turnout. Over 80 people, including Rainbow’s Catie Hunter, showed up to share their memories of Don and have a nice meal.
“Rob’s parking lot was overflowing with people, and it was standing room only,” Hunter said. “Don’s family felt like a branch of my own family. Our connection was so natural and there wasn’t necessarily a specific reason that brought us so close. At the memorial, every family member I met while caring for Don recognized me, gave me hugs, waved or said hi and thanked me for coming.”
All the money raised at the second benefit also went to the ABTA. Ardis also decided to turn over all of Don’s leftover medical supplies to Catie who passed them on to Church Health Services in Beaver Dam, a Christian-based healthcare organization that provides dental, mental health, and medical services for low-income adults and children who are uninsured and underinsured.
The pain of losing Don has been tough on Ardis. It will be even harder when she takes that first ride on their motorcycle without him.
But knowing her family has the love, support and generosity from Rainbow and the SOAR community has meant the world to her.
“They’ve been calling almost every day and checking in on how we’re doing,” Voss said. “They’re all interested in our well-being and take great care of us.”
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