WAUKESHA, WI (WTAQ) - A former Wisconsin First Lady has passed away.

Joyce Dreyfus, the widow of former Governor Lee Dreyfus, died Thursday at a Waukesha hospital. She was 84.

Her son, Lee Jr., said Joyce apparently suffered a stroke and never woke up from brain surgery. The operation was meant to relieve bleeding in the brain, after she fell at an assisted living center in Pewaukee.

Joyce Dreyfus became well known while campaigning for her husband before he served one term as governor from 1979 through 1982. She also performed in a number of theater groups over the years.

Lee and Joyce Dreyfus grew up just a few blocks from each other in Milwaukee. They were married in 1947. Lee Dreyfus died in January of 2008 at age 81.