Obit: Vander Kooi, Violetta (1918 - 1980)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Vander Kooi, Putman, Fitzmaurice, O’Leary, Eisberner, Wilkenson, Waite, Jinkerson, Michels, Lulloff, Ebert

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/10/1980

Vander Kooli, Violetta (3 February 1918 – 7 January 1980)

A well-known Humbird woman, Mrs. Violetta (Midge) Vander Kooi, 61 was found at the steering wheel of her car in Humbird, late Monday afternoon. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Black River Falls Memorial Hospital at 6:15 p.m. that evening. According to Coroner Lulloff, death was attributed to a heart attack.

Funeral services were to be held Friday afternoon at 1:30 from the Gesche Funeral Home in Neillsville with burial in the Town of Mentor Cemetery. The Rev. Alvin Ebert was to officiate. The body was to lie in state on Thursday from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., and Friday morning until time of services.

The deceased was born on February 3, 1918, in Phelps to Lewis and Helen (Putman) Fitzmaurice. She moved to Humbird with her parents, where she received her education. On March 6, 1936, she married William R. O’Leary in Neillsville ceremonies and the couple farmed in the Humbird area, later moving to Neillsville where they lived for several years. She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary.

The deceased later moved to Beloit and Harvard, Ill., then on to Fond du Lac, where she worked for Mercury Marine for several more years, before retiring and moving back to Humbird.

Surviving her are three daughters, Mrs. Donald (Theresa) Eisberner of Humbird, Mrs. Geraldine Wilkenson of Harvard, Ill., and Mrs. Cecil (Clara) Waite of Branch, Mich.; two sons, Lewis R. O’Leary of Waukegan, Ill., and Patrick W. O’Leary of Richland, Neb.; her mother, Helen Fitzmaurice, Humbird; two sisters, Mrs. Virgil (Dorothy) Jinkerson of Humbird and Mrs. George (June) Michels of Alma Center; one brother, Dale Fitzmaurice, Janesville; 21 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, William O’Leary, on November 22, 1969.