Lois Mae Stauss

Lois Mae Stauss of Hortonville Wisconsin, age 87, passed away on Saturday, March 7, 2026.

She was born on August 8, 1938 in Neenah to the late Adolph and Theda (Schwerin) Pingel. She grew up in the Town of Clayton, a farming community in rural Neenah. For her first 8 years her family lived upstairs in the house her grandfather built and had cleared land on 80 acres to become the Pingel Homestead. She attended a one-room country school (Lonely Oak) on a gravel road which is now called Fairview Rd. Her teacher taught grades 1-9 how to knit squares which were then put together for an afghan to be sent to a charity organization. There was no kindergarten at that time, and no running water nor indoor bathrooms. Later, her parents purchased a small farm two miles from school. Many games were played outside during recess, kids put on Christmas plays to a packed house, held card parties and box lunch socials for the public, and played competition softball games with other one room country schools riding their bikes 3-5 miles to get there. Grade school was a fun time in Lois's life. She also belonged to the Clayton Center 4-H Club and participated in county fair projects. She then went on to many new experiences in Neenah High School and graduated in 1956. After graduating she was immediately employed as a secretary at Bergstrom Paper Co. for two years. Lois then married Dick Stauss on January 25, 1958 at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Oshkosh.

After first living in Menasha for 6 years, they moved to a home they built in Neenah near Dick's work. They enjoyed camping with their young family and traveled to many states, National Parks, and private campgrounds with a succession of tenting, a truck camper, a small motorhome, and eventually a larger motorhome in retirement. They had lots of fun camping with a large group from St. Gabriel's Catholic Church of Neenah where they formed many close friendships with families who all camped together for years. Lois served on various committees and as a Brownie Leader in their neighborhood, where lots of parties and volleyball games went on.

Lois worked as a secretary for the Neenah Joint School District Administrative Office from 1968-1973. In 1971, she and Dick purchased a farm and moved west of Hortonville. There they farmed, raising beef cattle, while Dick remained employed at Wisconsin Tissue and Lois at the Hortonville School District. In 1983 they sold their cattle and rented out the land. Then they purchased a 6-unit apartment building in New London which they maintained for 30 years. Lois worked as a secretary at Hortonville Elementary School until 1996. She was known for her great cooking & baking, loved her flowers, had a large garden, canned & froze much food for her family of five, sewed when the kids were young, spent countless hours mowing lawn and weed wacking, helped with all the farm work, always remembered birthdays & anniversaries & holiday cards to the kids, grandchildren, great grandchildren, relatives & friends. She enjoyed feeding and identifying the many birds that came to their deck. Loved their "paradise on the hill" for it's sunrises & sunsets. She was known to always have a camera in her hand. Lois took thousands of pictures of family & travel. She loved doing Creative Memory scrapbooks which included: identical scrapbooks of family activities for each of her five children, friends' anniversaries, ancestry info & pictures. She took pictures of Ss. Peter & Paul's Catholic Church at Hortonville, the demolition of rectory & church and new rectory & church being built to be added to ongoing history of church's scrapbooks. Also scrapbooks for the activities on their street and resort in Mesa, AZ. She served on various church committees and rode many miles on snowmobiles and bicycles.

Lois and Dick spent a lot of their time dancing and went to many polka fests (with motorhome or motel) and had dancing friends all over the country. She learned to dance when young because children back then always went along to wedding dances. Lois and Dick retired in February 1996. They traveled extensively afterward including a 3 month trip to Alaska in their motorhome in 1996, visited a total of 47 states in their lifetime, hiked the Grand Canyon (4 days), hiked Mt. Whitney in California, traveled to Mexico, Hawaii, all Canadian Provinces, several countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. Twenty-two winters were spent in Mesa, AZ and one in Florida. They purchased a permanent "park model" in 1998 to be near many friends from all over the country while they wintered at Towerpoint Resort in Mesa. Throughout retirement they spent nearly every weekday at the New London Pool and made many new friends.

Lois and Dick made an impressive team, over a 67 year love story, which included their family, religion, years of hard work, fun times and adventures. She was a very caring wife, mother and friend, and was blessed to have such a wonderful family.

After 48 years on the farm in the Township of Hortonia, Dick and Lois sold the farm in March, 2020 and moved into the Village of Hortonville to an apartment after MUCH downsizing.

Lois is survived by her children, Randall Stauss, Craig Stauss, Cindy Abhold, Wendy (Craig) Panos, Tina (Michael) Larsen; grandchildren Joe, Josh, Jake (Megan) Abhold, Jessica (Casey) Simonis, Samantha and Tyler (Glory) Stauss, Alexi and Demitri Panos, Adrian Larsen; great grandchildren, Landon, Garrett and Bryleigh Abhold, Rhett and Hazel Simonis, and Harue Stauss. She is further survived by her brother-in-law Paul Halverson, nieces & nephews, along with several great nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband Dick, daughter-in-law Jennifer Stauss, son-in-law Jeffery Abhold,

her parents Adolph and Theda, her sisters Pat Halverson and Judy Schwandner, step-father Julius Wismer, father-in-law & mother-in-law Arthur and Regina Stauss, brother-in-law & sister-in-law Daniel & Kerene Stauss and nephew David Stauss.

The family will receive relatives and friends on Saturday, March 14, 2026 at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church (107 N. Olk St. Hortonville) beginning at 9:00 a.m. until the time of Mass at 11:00 a.m. with Father Phil Schoofs as celebrant. Burial will be in Clayton Cemetery (Co. Rd. T, Larsen) following lunch.

We would also like to thank all of those that have cared for Lois over these past months.