Colette Van de Bogert passed away peacefully on Nov. 8, 2021, at the age of 95.
She was born on Nov. 22, 1925, the third of nine children to John and Ann (Kachelmeier) Ganske.
She grew up on the family farm in Sleepy Eye, Minn., and graduated from St. Mary’s High School. Colette always wanted to be a nurse and upon graduation she immediately signed up for the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp. She realized her dream by receiving her degree in nursing from Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford, Ill., in 1947. While in nursing school she met her future husband and on May 21, 1947, she married James R. Van de Bogert at St. Catherine’s church in Sharon. They briefly moved to Baraboo before settling in Sharon in 1951 and raising their children there.
While busy being a wife and mother, she also found time to work as a registered nurse at Harvard Hospital from 1955 to 1975. After Jim’s retirement, they lived for a time at their home in Wabeno before moving to Elkhorn in 1995.
Her greatest joy was her extended family. She loved spending summers with her children and grandchildren at their family cottage on Trump Lake in Wabeno and at her homes in Sharon and Elkhorn. She was a very loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend and will be missed dearly by all who knew her. Wherever she was, she was usually surrounded by any number of her children. She loved to cook and you could usually find her in the kitchen creating a feast, for hers was a home where all were welcome.
Colette is survived by 14 children, Jim (Ann) of Walworth, David (Ruth Ann) of Magnolia, Texas, Susan (Tom) Jordan of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Jane (Ken) Riley of Janesville, William (Annette) of Sammamish, Wash., Bob of Brevard, N.C., Mary (Kurt) Davidsen of East Troy, Tom (Kathy) of Sharon, Katie (John) Killeen of Harvard, Ill., Joan (Rob) Schrader of Appleton, Steve (Jennifer) of Nine Mile Falls, Wash., Joe (Pennie) of Delavan, Ann (Harry) Stoll of Elkhorn, and Charlie of Sharon; as well as 37 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Her husband, Jim, preceded her in death on June 27, 2001. She was also the last of her siblings and was preceded in death by her brothers Lyle, Jim and Tom, and her sisters Lois Flor, Mildred Linnehan, Joan Jensen, Mary Jane Kessler and Maureen De Rosier.
As per her wishes, her funeral will be private. In lieu of flowers, Colette asked for a donation to the charity of the donor’s choice in her name.
For the online guestbook, visit haaselockwoodfhs.com.
