Arlene M. Lesser

1925 - 2022

Arlene M. Lesser

1925-2022

PORTAGE - Arlene M. Lesser, age 96, died on Monday, February 28, 2022, at Tivoli in Portage. Born in 1925 on a farm in Fort Winnebago, the ninth child of a family of 11 children to Rudolph and Amanda (Manthey) Pfuehler. She attended St. John's Lutheran Grade School and graduated from Portage High School in 1942. Three years later, she married her high school sweetheart, Kenneth Lesser.

She worked in Portage at Weyenberg Shoe Factory, Portage Hosiery, and Ray-O-Vac, where she retired in 1991, after her husband passed away in 1990. She stayed in their home for 30 years. She loved bowling and taking care of her flowers and lawn.

She was a lifelong member of St. John's Lutheran Church and a member of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. She attended weekly Bible classes and sang in the church choir until her health failed. She loved to knit and crochet. Everyone in her family received an afghan or quilt. She helped sew quilts at the school which were sent overseas.

After her husband passed away, she did a lot of traveling. She made three-day bus trips, once per year, with a group of people who called themselves "George's Happy Ramblers". She always said she lived a full and happy life. The Lord blessed her in so many ways. Now, she lives with the Lord, in heaven.

She is survived by her two daughters: Judy (Duane) Shortreed and Terri Stoneman; three grandchildren: Todd Shortreed, Michael (Mindi) Stoneman, and Andrea (Erik) Nilson; five (and another on the way) great-grandchildren: Sydney and Chase Shortreed, Hannah Nilson, and Mac and Leo Stoneman. She is also survived by one sister, Phyllis (Theodore) Huebner; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Verna (Albert) Fredrick, Esther (Milton) Muehl, Evelyn (Everett) Bradley, Leone (Arthur) Fredrick, and Ethel (Robert) Peterson; and four brothers, Arthur (Lois) Pfuehler, Oscar (Mabel) Pfuehler, Donald (Wilma) Pfuehler, and Wilbert Pfuehler, killed in World War II.

Funeral Services will be held at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage, WI, with the Rev. Greg Hovland officiating. Burial will be at Oak Grove Cemetery following the service. Visitation will be at the church from 10:45 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Portage.

The family would like to thank the staff at Heritage House and the staff at Tivoli for their wonderful care of their mother.

Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage (www.pmmfh.com) is assisting the family.