Elizabeth Janet Thomas

Elizabeth Janet Thomas (née Walkowski), age 93, passed away peacefully on December 31, 2025.
Elizabeth was born on September 3, 1932, in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, to Edward Francis Walkowski and Elizabeth Marguerite Cook. She married William Frederick Trachte on February 27, 1954, and they were married for 30 years. Elizabeth was born during the depression in Rhinelander, WI. At the time, it was a small logging community, built up around the paper mill and a few churches. She was born into a family of year-round outdoorsmen.
She was raised Catholic, along with her two sisters and one brother and attended St. Joseph Catholic Church. As a child she was taught a sense of economy, virtue and discipline, which permeated her own children's upbringing. Times were hard but the family always enjoyed going out to Grandma and Grandpa Cook's farm on Lake Emma. There the children could swim, fish and enjoy nature.
After high school, Elizabeth moved to Madison to work. She was a telephone switchboard operator and also taught dance at an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. In Madison she met and married William Trachte from Watertown, WI in 1954. William was in the service and graduating ROTC, so they moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Their first child, William was born on the base, her two other children were born in WI.
The family moved to Brookfield in 1963.Elizabeth was a homemaker and mother of three, but she was always involved in her church, St. John Vianney. She was a Den Mother with the Pack 72 of the Cub Scouts, a Shamrock sport's booster, a participant in Holy Name Society events and other organizations. She loved sports and participated in bowling, ice skating and tennis. She continued her trips up north with the family.
After her children were grown, she took classes to earn her associate's degree. She always wanted to be a teacher. She went to work at Happy Times Nursery for handicapped children.
After her marriage ended, she decided to build a house on her property on Lake Emma, next to her sister, June, in Grandma and Grandpa Cook's front yard. This is where she lived the rest of her life, enjoying visits from her grandchildren, skating, cross-country skiing, playing tennis, taking care of her dog, feeding the deer, knitting and crocheting, and dancing in the Hodag Honeys senior dance group.
She joined Pine Wood Community Church later in life because it carefully taught the Bible and her faith became even stronger. She moved down to Hartford, WI to live with her daughter in 2024, when she could no longer live alone.
Elizabeth's faith in God was central to her ability to live life to the fullest. Even as she aged and lost a few steps, she never lost her love of life nor her belief that an even greater life with God awaited her after death.
Elizabeth is survived by her children:
William Frederick Trachte Jr. (Jill), Marie Ann Thierfelder (Dave), and Paul Edward Trachte (Lynn); sisters, June Marie Thiel and Marguerite Walkowski; grandchildren, Elizabeth Tomasicyk (Jake), Colin Trachte (Rachel), Caleb Trachte (Amy), Sam Trachte (Lauren), and Shayna Trachte; great-grandchildren, Daisy, Josephine, and Charlie Tomasicyk; Chloe and Ryan Trachte; Violet and William Trachte; and Azalea Trachte.
She was preceded in death by her parents; Edward Francis Walkowski and Elizabeth Marguerite Cook; brother, Alan Walkowski; nephew, Dan Walkowski; brother-in-law, John Thiel, and his son, Johnny Thiel.
Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2026, at St. Mary of the Hill Church, 1515 Carmel Road, Hubertus, Wisconsin. Visitation will take place from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., followed by the Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. A luncheon in the church hall will follow the service. Committal services will be held at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary of the Hill Church or the Washington County Humane Society.