Dorothy A. Kohlbeck

With great sadness and tremendous sorrow, the family of Dorothy A. Kohlbeck announces her passing on November 19, 2024. She is sadly missed by all those who knew and admired her kindness, sweetness, love of life, compassion, and forgiving nature. She was 98 years old.

In 1926, Dorothy was born on the family homestead farm in New Franken, in Brown County, WI. She was the third of four members of the family, and the only Blonde to be born on the family homestead farm.

 During the summer she and her sister raised and sold cucumbers. She followed behind her older brother Bob as he went hunting in the blonde woods. She saved her nickels and dimes to buy a brownie hawkeye camera, and her own fishing rod and reel. She gave little red wagon rides to the kittens. When hand milking cows in the barn by lantern light, she would squirt cow’s milk at the gathering of piglets that waited for a treat. 

She graduated Saint Killian’s parish school and started to attend Luxemburg High School, until World War 2 gasoline rationing forced rural school buses to stop running. At 16 she then moved to her favorite Aunt and Uncle’s house (Eleanor and Jack Monard) in Green Bay. She worked 40 to 50 hours per week at Joannie Fabrics, and at the popular Kopps restaurant. Every weekend she traveled back to the farm to help milk cows, work in the vast grain fields, clean out the barn, take pictures of the farm and photos of relatives, or do any job that needed to be done. Her father very much looked forward to seeing her, and enjoyed the over filled jelly donuts she brought along from Kopps. After the war ended, she was very proud of returning to high school and graduating, when not many others did that.

Her father proficiently played an accordion. It was a very large sized family heirloom from Germany and had been passed down for generations. Dorothy was interested in playing it, but her stature was far too small to handle it. She learned to play the harmonica, and played the drums in the Luxemburg High School marching and concert band.

She then graduated occupational school in Green Bay. She took a job at the Nicolet Paper Mill and then at the Fabry Glove and Mitten Company (Saranac). She considered joining the convent and the sisterhood, but the love and desire of having children led her to a different life path instead. One weekend, Dorothy and three friends went to a polka dance where she met her future husband, George. They were married November 7, 1953. George started building a house in Manitowoc when they were still engaged, and after the wedding she helped with dry walling, painting, sanding, and would do anything else to pitch in and help. 

Despite societal conventions and condemnations against married woman working; as a married woman she first took a job at the Lakeside Packing Company and then at the Manitowoc Cotton Goods Co. In a year she was fired from the Manitowoc Cotton Goods, after her Boss figured out she was now expecting her first child. That turned her into a stay-at-home house wife raising her three children for the next 6 years. In those days the family did not yet have a television nor radio set. When washing dishes by hand or washing clothes with the Maytag wringer washer, she was commonly heard singing an old country folk song. She learned those tunes from listening to “The National Barn Dance” show, long years ago, on the tube radio they had on the old Blonde farm.

After working inside all day, she made supper and then went outside to pull weeds in the garden, plant evergreen trees around the yard, use a push mower to cut the grass, or hand shovel the snow from the eighty-foot-long driveway in the winter. She finally got to sleep after husband, George, came home at midnight and told her all about his day at work for an hour. When she played games with her kids, or read them a bedtime story, he would tease her, comparing her to “an old mother hen.”

After the youngest child started school, she returned to work at the Aluminum Specialty Company in Manitowoc on the Evergleam Aluminum Christmas Tree line. She worked on the day shift, and George worked the night shift. But the Aluminum Specialty Company had a lay-off every winter, and the family needed her income from a year ‘round job. She then went to work for the Eggers Plywood Co. in Two Rivers, WI on the veneer spicing line. Her proudest moment was selecting and matching the wood veneers for the large meeting table in the Presidential Cabinet Office in the White House. She retired from the National Tinsel Christmas Co. in Manitowoc in 1992. She spent her retirement years volunteering for her church, taking travel trips with the Senior Center and growing flowers. At eighty-five years of age, she still walked behind a lawn mower cutting the grass on the half acre yard, raked the hugely massive amount of leaves every year, and would still shovel the snow. She still didn’t wait to be asked; she would just show up anytime she thought something had to be done, or if someone might need a helping hand. She lovingly cared for her pets, and cherished her family just as she did when she lived on the farm.

Immediate family survivors are her daughter and son in law, Jean and Thomas Melin, of Nekoosa, WI; along with sons, David Kohlbeck of Oshkosh, WI, and Keith Kohlbeck of Manitowoc, WI. Also surviving are her three grandchildren: Jacob, Rachel, and Marta Melin. She has one surviving brother-in-law, William (Bill) J. Geigel Sr. of Manitowoc. She is further survived by multitude of nieces, nephews, and friends. Also survived by a favorite friend, Ms. Calisse Smoka, her very long time neighbor, Ms. Dorothy Foreyt, plus favorite nieces, Ms. Susan Goeke and Ms. Linda Schwab. She was very fond of her grandson, Jacob Melin. Her never-ending thoughtfulness and compassion made her a natural choice to be a baptismal godmother to her nephew, Neil DuJardin. 

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Mae Blonde, older sister, Mildred and brother-in-law, Tony DuJardin, older brother, Robert (Bob) and sister-in-law, Ruth Blonde, younger sister, Margret (Peg) and brother-in-law, Theodore (Chic) Roberts. Dorothy was also preceded in death by her husband, George J. Kohlbeck Jr; her in law parents, George (Senior) and Rosie Kohlbeck; brothers and sisters in law: Abdon and Gertrude Kohlbeck, Emanuel and Grace Kohlbeck, Cyril and Carol Kohlbeck, Herbert and Marie Kohlbeck, Kenneth and Marie Kohlbeck, Gordon and VernaMae Kohlbeck, Monica (Geigel) and Vincent Scheuer, and Rodger Kohlbeck. A multitude of relatives and friends preceded her in death. 

She was also a member of the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, a member of the Saint Claire society, and a member of the Christian Mothers. Dorothy was the confirmation sponsor to her cousin, Cecilia Blonde, her niece, Julie Koenig, and her late sister-in-law, VernaMae Kohlbeck. 

Dorothy willingly made sacrifices for her family and others her entire life. She was adventurous at a time when that was frowned upon. Her husband teased her for her youthful outlook on life. Despite serious illness, multiple injury, tragedy, or disappointment, she never ever complained. Dorothy quietly tolerated insults from a few, but received praise and earned admiration for her sweet compassionate and friendly unassuming nature from many more. She said “that is what keeps a person young.” 

Dorothy was truly happy with the smallest gift or token. To her, it meant someone had been thinking of her, just as she had always thought of others. That was the greatest gift anyone could present to her. She honestly believed, it was indeed, the thought that mattered. She gave a warm smile and a hug when someone came to visit her, and when they left, she thanked them again for taking the time to come and say hello. She enjoyed her flowers and pets, and lovingly cherished her friends and family. She was always a kind and sweet loving mother of her children. 

She truly had a heart of gold. And we miss her so very, very much.

A memorial and mass will be announced at a later date.