Theresa Ann Gotz

Theresa Ann Gotz, 83, of Onalaska and formerly of St. Joseph Ridge passed away peacefully from a brief illness on Monday, April 21, 2014. She was born Oct. 20, 1930, the fourth child of the late Anna (Luft) and Rudolph Korger in Shelby, NE. Theresa and her husband Clarence and were married in 1954 and shared a full life together for 47 years until his death in 2001.

Faith in God, strong will and perseverance guided Theresa through her life. Theresa's greatest joy was her family. Clarence and Theresa moved to the La Crosse area in 1959 with three young daughters in tow and settled on St. Joseph Ridge. Five more children were born and raised on the Ridge which Theresa called home for 53 years.

Theresa, nicknamed "Tootsie" by her family, displayed strong will and perseverance even at a young age. When she was 13 years old she and her older sister Veronica went to the Milwaukee area to pick peas and beans to earn money for the family. After graduating from Pittsville high school in 1948, Theresa moved back to the Milwaukee area working various jobs. This is when Theresa developed her love to travel. During hard times travel would consist of getting in the car on a Sunday afternoon with her husband and as many kids as they could fit in the car, driving to the destination and turning the car around to head back home. Theresa always enjoyed the Olympics and in 2002 applied for a volunteer position and worked as a 5' 2" tall security guard for the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Later in life, Theresa would climb the water falls in Jamaica at the age of 73 and smiled while enjoying every minute.

ln 2010 she was recognized for"10,000 Hours of Positive Community Service" from the La Crosse RSVP for knitting thousands of pairs of mittens for children. lt was her mission to provide warm mittens for deserving children and adults throughout the La Crosse area. Everywhere she went she took her knitting with. Even when playing BlNGO Theresa would knit as she played. The only place she would not take her knitting was to Church. She also volunteered as the church funeral lunch coordinator for many years and was honored to have received the PCCW Woman of Light award. Theresa's strong and caring

hands were never idle for long. These hands loved to do jigsaw puzzles, word search puzzles and even an occasional pull of the slot machine handle.

Theresa worked in food service for years and was known for many things, one of them being a very good cook. Every meal was prepared with love. Theresa was employed at Ridgeview lnn, Lakeview Health Care Center, Villa St. Joseph, and retired from the Hillview Health Care Center in 1995.

Theresa is survived by seven of her eight children; Phyllis

(Mike) Craig, Charlotte (John) Hershey, Ken (Laurel) Gotz,

Alice (Jeff) Clements, Patricia Gotz, Mary (Mark) Schuttenhelm

and Carol (Jeff) Mohring; thirteen grandchildren, Michele

Craig, Corey, Carl, and Colette (Brian Spranger) Hershey; Ashley

(Blaine Sondreal) Robert (Cassandra) Gotz, and Sandra Gotz; Ryan Clements; Luke and Anna Schuttenhelm; Spencer, Clare

and Natalie Mohring. Theresa was also blessed with seven g

reat grandchildren; Logan and Brycen Sondreal, Alekzander

Gotz, Lucas, Annie and Lacie Gotz, and Myles Smith. She is further survived by her sisters; Veronica Peters, Laura Rose Hunt, Christina (David) Minor; and her brother Carroll (Adeline) Korger.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Clarence; daughter,

Pauline Gotz; a granddaughter, Amy Craig, and a sister Leona Lyrenmann.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 26, 2014, at St. Joseph Catholic Parish, St. Joseph Ridge. Monsignor Michael Gorman will officiate. Burial will be in the St. Joseph Parish Cemetery.Visitation will be from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 25, 2014, at

the church, with a rosary recited at 7:00 p.m. and again from

9:30 a.m. until the time of service Saturday at the church.

ln lieu flowers memorials can be made to the Coulee Region

RSVP, La Crosse, in her name.



Theresa's family would like to thank the staff at Mayo Clinic Health System and Onalaska Care Center for all the exceptional

care and compassion displayed in the last couple of weeks.Theresa will bedeeply missed by her family and friends.