Geraldine "Oma" Schlecht

Schlecht, Geraldine Anna "Oma"

MADISON – Geraldine Anna "Oma" Schlecht died peacefully on Thursday, May 27, 2021, surrounded by her loving family.

She was born Dec. 16, 1927, to I.D. and Anna (Goranson) Hale in Milwaukee. She spent her childhood summers in Iron Mountain, Mich., and Aurora, Wis., with her beloved aunts and uncles.

She graduated from West Division High School in 1945, where she was editor of the school newspaper. While still there, she was a Rosie the Riveter, working in a re-purposed Milwaukee factory that made radios and transistors to support the war effort. One proud memory while there was a visit from Hollywood actor Walter Pidgeon who touched her soldering iron. She graduated early and left home to work at Great Lakes Naval Station.

After the war, she enrolled at Marquette University on a scholarship, transferring to UW-Madison the following year.

There she met her future husband, Bill, when she borrowed his class notes from a 1947 social work class. They married on Aug. 12, 1949. She quit school to raise seven children but returned after her youngest child started kindergarten. She graduated with a B.A. in social work in 1970 and began working as a nursing home social worker until her retirement in 1987. During her career, she launched the Wisconsin Nursing Home Social Workers Association and was the editor of the Association newsletter for many years.

After retirement, she and Bill traveled the world with Elderhostel programs. Along the way, they visited long-lost relatives in Sweden. They also took in Badgers football bowl games until travel became too difficult for both of them. Highlights included the 1993 Japan Bowl and the 1994 Rose Bowl and many other post-season bowl games. As UW alumni, they loved the excitement of these events.

She was an avid genealogist and along with her sister, Arlene, took annual trips to Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., to do research. Her extensive research is still being gratefully referenced by other Richland County (Wisconsin) genealogists researching the Purcell family. She could cheerfully and easily tell you stories about history and how her family was involved.

As a lifelong reader, Oma was a familiar face first at the Milwaukee Public Library as a young girl and then at every library where she lived thereafter. She also voraciously read newspapers and followed current events closely. She raised a family of readers, taking them every week to one of the branches or the book mobile. Happiness was a stack of soon-to-be-read books.

She was a gifted seamstress and knitter, learning from her mother and aunts the many practical skills of re-purposing old garments to make new ones. That love led her to be a steady patron of local quilt shops and JoAnn Fabrics. Oma later became an accomplished quilter. Each of her children and grandchildren benefitted from her impeccable skill and talent. She also started collecting and making dollhouse miniatures.

She is survived by her sister, Arlene Brachman; her children, Matthew (sons, Isaac and John Jun (Hyunmi Song), daughter, Sohyoun Jun (Brian Kim) and grandsons, Taeon and Taehi), Paul (Susan), M. Anna, Amy (Jim) Johnson (sons, Nathan and Brett), Sarah (Tom) Steele (daughters, Keyanna and Shanea (Darrell) Keaton and her daughters, Ja'Nia and Laionna), Willa (son, Jake and his father, Ken Kowalski) and Carl (Kat Tigerman). She was preceded in death by her husband, William; her parents; sister, Mare Lynn; brother, Gordon Buckley; and daughter-in-law, Kangyoon Rhee.

Throughout a life well-lived and lived well, Oma made many sacrifices as a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. She always put her family first - always! We'll miss her forever.

A celebration of life will be held at the EVJUE COMMONS OF OLBRICH BOTANICAL GARDENS, 3330 Atwood Ave., Madison, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 8, 2021, with a meal to follow. Visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. until the start of the celebration. There will be chocolate.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Madison Public Library's Dream Bus, https://mplfoundation.org/donate/, the current incarnation of the bookmobile. Attendees are also encouraged to bring good books to be donated to Friends of Sequoia Library. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson West

Funeral & Cremation Care

7435 University Ave.

(608) 831-6761