Surnames: Bucheger, Follmar, Vochaska, VonDrasek, Fritz, White

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., Wis.) Saturday, April 19, 2008

Bucheger, Louise K. (13 Nov. 1913 - 17 April 2008)

Louise K. Bucheger

NEILLSVILLE -- Louise K. Bucheger, 94, of Neillsville, died April 17, 2008, at the Memorial Medical Center Health and Rehabilitation in Neillsville.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwood.

Family will receive relatives and friends from 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the church.

A complete obituary will run in the Tuesday edition of the News-Herald.

The Maurina-Schilling Funeral Home of Abbotsford is assisting the family with arrangements.

* * * *

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., Wis.) Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Louise K. Bucheger

GREENWOOD -- Louise K. Bucheger, 94, of Neillsville, took an angel's hand and enjoyed yet another journey ... this one to join her beloved "Ed" for eternity.

She passed away Thursday, April 17, 2008, at the Memorial Medical Health and Rehabilitation Center of Neillsville.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 24, 2008, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwood. The Rev. Joseph Follmar will officiate.

Family will receive relatives and friends from 9:30 a.m. until service time Thursday at the church. Private burial will take place at a later date in Butternut next to her loving husband, Ed.

Louise, the youngest of nine children of John and Anne (Vochaska) VonDrasek, was born Nov. 13, 1913, in Butternut. She was the only surviving sibling at the time of her death. She spent her childhood living in Butternut. As the youngest of such a large family, she enjoyed a kind of idyllic childhood being catered by the older family members. It did not, however, spoil her. She met her beloved "Ed" when she was just thirteen and we like to say he waited for her to grow up. They married in 1935. She and Ed moved to a farm in rural Greenwood in 1950 and it was in that area that she spent the rest of her life. She and Ed were very active members of St. Mary's Catholic Church. As a caring wife, Louise assisted Ed for many years during his struggle with Parkinson's until his death in 1997.

A "bump in the road" for her came when she contracted tuberculosis. Her youngest child was a first grader at the time and she had to live in Stevens Point for six months of recovery. She persevered and formed a special bond with a nun named Sister Luke, RN, who encouraged her special talent of writing poetry. She spent many hours contemplating and writing ... it seemed she wrote a poem for every friend, child, grandchild and occasion. Her poem about Greenwood was chosen to be included in Greenwood's Centennial Book in 1991.

Louise and Ed reared seven children, all very devoted to their Mom while she endured the loss of eyesight, hearing, touch and smell, but never her patience, which endeared her to her family and to the many special staff members at MMC in Neillsville, where she was forced to spend her last years because of medical necessities of her diabetes. Thankfully, she never lost her sense of humor either, and enjoyed a good joke whenever she could share one with someone.

One of her loves was traveling. She and Ed started traveling the U.S. when some of their children began living in other states. They traveled to see them, help them, and traveled with them. They also went to a favorite of hers, Lake Louise in Canada, and even to Europe and the Alps, fulfilling a childhood dream of hers when she got to spend two weeks there in 1998.

Louise was always interested in current events and was up-to-date even though she had to give up reading and TV when her eyesight failed. She always delighted in the activities of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and kept pace with the world by telephone.

She is survived by her seven children, David (Carol) Bucheger of Rothschild, Dennis (Darlene) Bucheger of Greenwood, Jacquelyn (Ross) Fritz of North Powder, Ore., Joseph (Candice) Bucheger of Onalaska, Judi (Noel) White of Kennewick, Wash., Jerome (Judy) Bucheger of Crystal Lake, Ill., and Jeffrey (Rose) Bucheger of Farmington, Minn.; 18 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Also survived by other relatives and friends.

A memorial in her name may be given to Memorial Medical Center in Neillsville, to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwood or to a charity of choice.

Louise's family wishes to thank the wonderful staff of the Rehabilitation Center of MMC for four years of excellent care.

As was evident in many of her poems, she would wish you all "the best of God's great world! Enjoy it and keep smiling!"