Peg Umhoefer
WAUWATOSA - Peg, whose love of family and friends left a legacy from Wausau to La Crosse to the Milwaukee area, passed away peacefully in Wauwatosa on January 5, 2024, at age 87.
The ever-optimistic Milwaukee Brewers fan now has the best seat in the house.
Peg, born Maureen Margaret McArthur, grew up in Wausau, the youngest of seven in a family rich in love and laughs.
After graduating from St. Mary's Catholic School and Wausau High School, Peg briefly attended Central State College in Stevens Point, Wis., before working in classified ad sales at the Wausau Daily Record-Herald.
In 1955, Peg reconnected with her future husband Tom Umhoefer, with whom she had attended school since the second grade.
They married in Wausau in 1958, and moved to Urbana, IL, where Tom finished a Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Illinois. They moved to La Crosse in 1960, eventually settling in Wedgewood Terrace in the Town of Shelby just outside the city. They were inseparable during more than 65 years of marriage.
Peg was all in on anything that involved raising her five children. She was a den mother, a brownie and girl scout leader. She sang in the funeral choir and helped at St. Thomas More parish. She enjoyed Scrabble games with friends, book clubs, working out at Curves, long lunches, phone calls with close friends and the rousing McArthur family reunions. Mainly, she poured herself into her role as the much-loved chief operations officer of the family's bustling split-level.
She and Tom game-planned epic camping trips around Wisconsin and in national parks in the Western states, making hundreds of memories and inspiring a love of the outdoors. Tent camping adventures around Wisconsin often included the family of Jeanette and John McArthur, one of her brothers.
After the kids graduated from Aquinas High School in La Crosse, Peg and Tom snuck in genealogical journeys all around the Midwest, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and eastern Canada. Together they traversed libraries, courthouses and cemeteries searching for ancestral information and clues.
Peg returned to college, earning an Associate degree in Early Childhood Education at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute, and working at various child-care centers in La Crosse.
She grew active in social justice causes while a member of the Newman Center in La Crosse. She and Tom hit the streets carrying protest signs at political events.
In 2017 Peg and Tom moved from the family home of 51 years to Wauwatosa, in an apartment in the Luther Manor retirement community.
Life dealt her many health setbacks, but Peg was relentlessly upbeat. This lyric from Randy Sparks's song "Today" - a McArthur reunion favorite - spoke to her attitude: "A million tomorrows shall all pass away, 'ere I forget all the joy that is mine, today."
She is survived by her husband Thomas Umhoefer; children, Mark (Susan) of Summit, David (Gretchen) of Milwaukee, John (Sara) of Madison, Anne (Peter) Ericksen of De Pere; and a sister, Kathleen Schramm of Reno, NV. She is also survived by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son Robert (partner Andrea); her parents Neil McArthur and Dorothy McArthur, nee Braasch; sisters Jane, Patricia, Betty and brothers John and Luke.
Please consider a tribute donation to Next Door Milwaukee in memory of Peg and her early childhood education work. Give online or mail a check to Next Door mentioning Peg, attention to: Development, 2545 N. 29th St. Milwaukee, WI 53210.
A private memorial service for family is planned.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
5 Entries
Susan Fossen
January 23, 2024
I was fortunate to work with Peg at Coulee Children's Center. She worked in the infant room when I came back to work after maternity leave. She loved my babies and always showed delight in their growth. She talked often about her family. What a lovely life.
Kathy Finn
January 22, 2024
May your memories of time together provide comfort and peace. Peg was certainly an example of a live well lived.
Ronald Umhoefer
January 21, 2024
When you have memorial service, i would like to attend.
Ronald Umhoefer, 414-304-8042, [email protected]
Tim Thompson
January 21, 2024
May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived.
Ronald Umhoefer
January 19, 2024
I don't believe I ever met Peg or Tom but my name is Ronald Umhoefer Age 79 and i lived the first 18 years of my life in Umhoefer LOG CABIN before it was moved to the Menomonee Falls Historical site at the corner of Pilgrim & County line road. Please accept sympathy at your lost. If anyone like to talk genealogy you can reach at 414-304-8042 or email me at [email protected]
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