Fifth Generation

42. Claude STROZEWSKI was born on 19 September 1913 in Monroe County, WI.¹⁶ He died before April 2007 at the age of 93.⁶

Claude STROZEWSKI and Lorraine CHARLES were married on 8 June 1943.⁴¹ Lorraine CHARLES, daughter of Jack CHARLES and Jane UNKNOWN (CHARLES), was born on 19 February 1919 in Valley Junction, Byron Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴² She died on 31 May 2013 at the age of 94 in Black River Falls, Jackson County, WI.⁴²

Obituary Notes: "Lorraine A. Strozewski, 94 of Tomah, died peacefully, surrounded by family, on Friday, May 31, 2013, at Pine View Care Center in Black River Falls. She was born on Feb. 19, 1919, in Valley Junction, to John and Jane (Sloan) Charles.

Following graduation from Tomah High in 1937, she attended Juneau County Normal teaching program to become an elementary teacher. On June 8, 1943, Lorraine married Claude Strozewski of Mather. The couple honeymooned in California, where he was stationed in the U. S. Army. They lived their married life in Warrens, and raised their five children on the Claude Strozewski Marsh. In 1964, she completed a teaching degree from Steven’s Point State College, commuting while holding down a classroom and raising a family.

Lorraine will be remembered as a teacher in Mather and Warrens. She retired from the Tomah Area School District in 1984, but continued to design innovative three-dimensional, animated bulletin boards and room decorations for ceilings, lockers and hallways until she was 90. Her creativity and humor were appreciated by students, parents and educators in Milwaukee, and Des Moines, where she would ship them to her teacher offspring in time for every new school year, season and special event. Assembly instructions were always included.

People who dropped in to visit always went home with something from the pantry – a pie, homemade jam, cookies or candies. Her annual plates of Christmas goodies were anticipated by family, friends and neighbors. Lorraine was ahead of her time in recycling and repurposing, making hundreds of quilts from cast off denim and fabric remnants, which she donated to the Tomah Hospital Auxiliary Store. She loved to give new life to old quilts and pass them on to family and friends.

Lorraine is survived by sons, Charles L. (Marianne) of Warrens, Tunney J. (Delores) of Des Moines, Iowa, Greg R. (Anna) of Tomah, Brad L. of Portage; a daughter, Desra (Robert) Huss of Germantown. She had 14 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
She and Claude loved taking the kids out to eat, fishing, berry picking and coming back home for homemade candy and cookies and a good game of cards to see who did the dishes.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Claude; her sister, Elithe Olson; and their parents, Jane and Jack Charles.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 4, at the Sonnenburg Family Funeral Home, 801 E. Monowau St., Tomah. Relatives and friends are invited to call from 10:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday at the funeral home. Pastor James Leston will officiate. Lunch will be served immediately following the service at the Tomah VFW, 1618 S. Superior Ave., followed by burial at Pine Grove Cemetery, town of Scott, Mather."

Claude STROZEWSKI and Lorraine CHARLES had the following children: