Obituaries

Viola Agnes DeFaut

PORTAGE  --  Viola Agnes DeFaut, age 93, of Portage, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at Heritage House in Portage.

Memorial services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at Huehns Funeral Home in Sturgeon Bay, with the Rev. Beyer officiating.  Inurnment will follow.

Viola was born on August 16, 1915 on the family farm near Forestville, Wisconsin, the daughter of Hugo and Lena (Schmidt) Schmiling.  She graduated from Algoma High School, and attended the Door County Normal School.  Viola taught all eight grades at Carnot Rural School for one year.  Together with her husband, Ward Mitchell “Duck” DeFaut, she helped out in their hardware store, Ward’s Hardware in Milwaukee, and in their paint store in West Bend.  She was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Algoma.

She is survived by two daughters, Margery (Gary) Geiger, Leesburg, Florida, and Lynn (Herbert Martin) VanDeuren, Portage;  her grandchildren, John (Kim) Speckin, Sussex, WI, Amy VanDeuren Rashkin, Janesville, Eric (Diane) VanDeuren, Sacramento, CA, Heidi (Patrick) Johnson, Washington, DC, Sonja (Timm) Jacobson, Windsor, WI, Terri (Rick) Maas, Waukesha, Gary Michael (Julee) Geiger, Waukesha, and David (Terri) Geiger, Dousman.;  19 great-grandchildren;  her sister-in-law, Dorothy (Sylvester) Schmiling, Sturgeon Bay;  numerous nieces and nephews;  and many close friends.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ward Mitchell DeFaut, four brothers, Melvin, Jennings, Sylvester, and Henry, five sisters, Alice, Edna, Florence, Alvina and Marie, and her grandson, Ward Speckin.  She was also preceded in death by three sisters-in-law, Dorothy (Darrell) Wagner, Ruth “Pat” (Frank) Shubert, and Shirley Kerscher Long.

In lieu of flowers, those desiring may make memorials to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Algoma.

The family wishes to extend special thanks to Colleen Nall and the Staff at the Heritage House Assisted Living facility in Portage, Ruth Oren and the Hospice Team of Southern Care, and Rev. Scott Schultz.

The Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage is assisting the family.
www.pmmfh.com

 

 

Obituaries
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