Mary E. Kokott

Mary E. (Anderegg) Kokott

Mary E. (Anderegg) Kokott, age 75, formerly of Blair, Wisconsin, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Bluffview Memory Care in Holmen, Wisconsin, where she had been living for only a few weeks. Prior to that, Mary had called West Salem, Wisconsin, her home since 1977.

Mary was born on May 31, 1947, in La Crosse, Wisconsin to Erwin and Elvina (Hanson) Anderegg.

Mary graduated from Blair High School in 1965. That same year, she married Frank (Francis) Kokott. During this marriage, they had two daughters, Angela and Shelly. Mary and Frank eventually divorced.

Mary worked as a clerk/cashier at Ben Franklin in West Salem, and then at Degen Berglund in Onalaska for over 30 years. She truly enjoyed working and seeing and helping her customers. She was extremely proud of her accomplishment of having perfect attendance at her jobs. She never missed a day of work (without vacation planned) or was ever late.

Mary's family was extremely important to her. She always enjoyed spending time with her family and especially her grandsons. She had a very special relationship with her brother, Johnny Anderegg.

Mary was very proud of the fact that she owned her own home and enjoyed spending time at her home. Mary enjoyed music very much. She played bass guitar in a country band for several years. While doing this, she had a lot of fun playing music at different locations including being in many parades. She also enjoyed going to and spending time with friends listening to other bands at many locations.

Other things that she enjoyed were watching and feeding the birds and squirrels in her yard, tending to her flowers and plants, going for walks, camping, and watching the Packers. She absolutely loved spending time with children and "critters" of all kinds (dogs, cats, geese, baby chicks, etc.). She would literally light up whenever she had the opportunity to do so.

One of Mary's favorite trips in her life was travelling to Wyoming to spend time with her daughter, Angela, and son-in-law, Rick. While there, she was able to see Amelia Earhart's planned cabin location high up in the mountains. Sadly, this cabin was never completed due to Amelia's disappearance. Mary was so proud of herself making it up that mountain trail and seeing all the beautiful wildflowers and that location for herself. She talked about it a lot afterwards and enjoyed sharing pictures and stories of that trip with friends and families.

Something that gave Mary tremendous joy was gazing at the moon, especially a full moon. It was not unusual to have her ask someone visiting her to look at it with her or for her to call someone in the family to make sure they didn't miss seeing it. Very few people could enjoy or truly appreciate the simple pleasure this activity gave her.

Mary is survived by her two daughters: Angela (Rick) Yeske of Worland, Wyoming, and Shelly (Chad) Horstman of West Salem, Wisconsin; two grandchildren: Robert and Jordan of West Salem, Wisconsin; a brother, Johnny Anderegg of Blair; four nephews: Jimmy (Lorie) Iverson, Caleb, Jacob, Travis; her niece, and goddaughter, Lisa (Dale) Losinski; a very special family friend, and classmate, Donna (Lokken) Jacobs.

In addition to her parents, Mary was preceded in death by her brother, Howard, her sister, Katherine and a granddaughter, Prima.

Mary always felt blessed to have had such great neighbors and friends throughout her lifetime.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 17, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. in Our Savior's Lutheran Church in West Salem with Pastors Jon and Jean Schmidt officiating. Private family burial services will be in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Blair.

Visitation will be held Sunday, April 16, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Jack Funeral Home in Blair and also one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday.

Please send memorials to Our Savior's Lutheran Church in West Salem or the Zion Lutheran Church in Blair.