Bonny Lee Oestreich

PORTAGE — Bonny Lee Oestreich, age 76, of Portage, passed away on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. 

Bonny was born on January 13, 1947, in Mount Carroll, Illinois, the daughter of Russell and June (Simonson) Pike. She graduated from Portage High School in 1965 and in the last few years greatly enjoyed her regular classmate lunches. She married Lynn L. Oestreich on February 3, 1968. After staying home with her children while they were young, she returned to school to earn her degree as a Registered Nurse. She utilized her degree to help deliver babies, assist surgeons, provide home health care, and her favorite, work as a school nurse at Portage and Pardeeville schools. Bonny loved animals; she never saw an American Saddlebred Horse she didn’t want to take home and was a member of GRROW (Golden Retriever Rescue of Wisconsin). Bonny was one of the founders of the Portage Free Clinic and was a member of D.A.R. 

Mrs. Oestreich, as she was known by many, was ever present at her children’s sporting events and was an authority on the 3-second rule during any basketball game she was watching, whether it was her son’s college game or her grandchildren’s club game. As her grandchildren got more involved, Grandma or Nanah, loved being at gymnastic meets, dance recitals, ski races, baseball, basketball, and soccer games. She passed on her love of horses to her daughter and spent countless hours driving to horseback riding lessons and horseshows for over a decade. She made sure Dunn Street was open to all and it was often full of her children’s friends, playing basketball in the driveway, playing sharks in minnows in the green pool, or just hanging out in the living room. Also, known as Lady
Bonny of Scotland, she had a deep love for her Scottish heritage and was able to travel there several times. As many of you know, she made friends everywhere she went, including several she still kept in touch with in Scotland. The book of her life is too big to share in its entirety here.

Bonny is survived by her children, Benjamin (Stephanie) Oestreich of Baraboo, WI, and Stephanie (Corey) Marthaler of Burnsville, MN; her grandchildren, Olivia, Benjamin, and Lynnie Oestreich and Pike and Donek Marthaler; her brothers, F. Thomas (Sue) Rebholz, and James (Katie) Rebholz; her sister-in-law, Nan Rebholz; her brothers-in-law Gerald (Marilyn) Oestreich, David (Karen) Theis, and Tom Radtke, her special friend, Jane Lee; cousins, many dear friends, the kids from the PHS classes of 1997 and 1998, and Betty, her black lab. She was preceded in death by her father, Russell Pike, her mother, June Pike Rebholz, her stepfather, Russell “Doss” Rebholz, her brother, Edward “Ted” Rebholz, sister-in-law Linda Theis Radtke and special cousins, Tom Simonson, Nancy Jones, and Mary Scherbert.

A Celebration of Life will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon on Friday, March 17, 2023, at Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage, with a time for Sharing of Memories at 12:00 noon.  

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Midwest Horse Welfare, GRROW, Columbia County Humane Society, or Portage Humane Society.

Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage is assisting the family.