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 Her inspiration came from her grandmother, Letha “Bea” Wise, who
passed away in 2008. “I would probably have to say my Grandma Wise,
my mom’s mom, inspired me. “She just always decorated,” said
Rentmeister. “I mean she had stuff everywhere. Big wreaths were
always outside and even the light poles were decorated.”
She recalled her grandparents living in a large house that was
previously a nursing home in Canton, when she was just a little
girl. “They had a big house and that’s where we all went,” said
Rentmeister, noting that the home was always filled with aunts,
uncles, cousins, friends, boyfriends and even relatives not on the
Wise side.
Everyone was welcome to celebrate the holidays. “It was just fun. So
all of our Christmas’s were there,” she said.
Jo’s favorite tree is
the Victorian tree decorated in the dining room.
“And then my mom, Sue VanMiddlesworth, always decorated a lot,” she
added. “So I think my mom and grandma is where it came from.”
 Through the years as Rentmeister’s own family has grown, she is the
mother of five boys, so has her passion for the holidays. She
admits, “I think I’ve gotten a little more on the crazier side with
it.
"The kids aren’t going to admit to you that they like it, but this
is what they know. This is how I do the holidays. They all have a
tree in their room.
"Whatever their room decoration is that year, their tree coordinates
with their room. If there is anything special they want to put on
it, they can. They don’t do that so much anymore since they’ve
gotten older. Now they are like, ‘You do it.’ But when they were
little they liked to put their own stuff on the trees.”
The boys, Cole (22), Brett (19), Brandon (19), Seth (16) and Drew
(11), might be older, but they still accommodate their mom’s wishes
for an annual Christmas card picture, too.
The Christmas tree in
Jo’s family room is decorated with handmade ornaments her children
made through the years and ornaments they have given her over the
years.
Rentmeister, who is a preschool aide at Zion Lutheran School in
Mount Pulaski, has also kept all the kid’s ornaments throughout the
years and those are still displayed every year on a tree that sits
in the family room. She calls this tree the “hodgepodge tree.” It is
decorated with those handmade ornaments the boys made at school,
their baby ornaments and any ornaments they may have given to their
mom over the years.
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 Rentmeister usually starts decorating in early November because
she says, “It has to be done before Thanksgiving. I have
Thanksgiving here. I like to have it done before then so we can all
enjoy it.”
That means decorating every bedroom, the upstairs master bathroom,
the family room, the dining room, the kitchen and even the finished
basement with Christmas trees.
Rentmeister also hosts Christmas now. She nods to a sign in her
kitchen that reads, “Christmas is not in the presents, but in His
presence.” “That says it the best, right up there,” she says.
“Jesus’ birth is what started everything and without that, none of
our sins would be forgiven. He would not have died on the cross. So
it’s like a light, and that’s why I like all the lights. That’s what
I think about in my head. His birth was like a light,” she said.
Rentmeister is also a fan of Thomas Kinkade, the man known as the
“Painter of light.” A new addition this year to her home is the
Thomas Kinkade Christmas portrait titled “Village Christmas.”
Her mom gave her the portrait as an early Christmas gift and
Rentmeister was obviously delighted.
Appropriately, “Village Christmas” lights up. “That could be my
house and I would be so happy,” says Rentmeister, pointing to a
lovely baby blue Victorian home covered in snow in the picture.
Explaining her fascination with Thomas Kinkade, Rentmeister spoke
excitedly, “He has books out, he co-wrote them obviously, but they
come out once a year, every year, at Christmas. It’s the Cape Light
series and it’s always centered around Christmas and families. Oh my
gosh, they are so good.”
 Noting that Kinkade has passed on, Rentmeister said his co-author,
Katherine Spencer, continues the series. Still smiling at the
beautiful winter scene, Rentmeister said, “I’ll leave that up all
winter. I love snow. I can’t wait. I love snow.”
Finally, gazing out the family room French doors at the beautiful
view out her backyard that features open fields, trees off in the
distance and even a pond at the far end of the property, Rentmeister
says, “I love to just sit in here and watch it snow.”
Surrounded by present family and decorations that remind her of
loved ones past, it’s no wonder the holidays are so special to the
woman who is affectionately known as “Jo Mama.”
[Teena Lowery]
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