Dolores A. Kerkhof

Age 75 passed away peacefully on January 22, 2004 following a brief illness. She was born on November 11, 1928 in Green Bay, Wisconsin to the late Joseph B. and Agnes (Meulemans) Gerrits. Upon graduating from Kaukauna High School she married Francis R. Kerkhof at Saint Francis Catholic Church in Hollandtown on a sunny and beautiful June day in 1948. After a short honeymoon, she and Frank began a lifelong adventure of operating the Kerkhof Family Farm and raising eight children near Hollandtown, Wisconsin. The family life revolved around Saint Francis School and Church in Hollandtown where the children attended elementary school. Dolores was employed at the Lee Store in Kaukauna and was a nursing assistant at St. Paul Home. She served as a 4-H leader as well as on the St. Francis Altar Society for many years. Dolores spent her adult life parenting her children and supporting them as they raised their children. She never missed an opportunity to share her love with her kids whether it be Christmas, birthdays or holidays. A high point of her year was spending a week every July with her children and grandchildren at Wheeler Lake Resort in Northern Wisconsin. Dolores also enjoyed golfing, traveling, bowling, and had a love and talent for music which many of her children and grandchildren inherited. All of her children are deeply grateful for her love and energy that she always gave freely and without reservation.

She is survived by her husband Francis Kerkhof; eight children: Sister Rochelle Kerkhof of Oshkosh, Donald Kerkhof of Madison, Virginia (Greg) Dunphy of Hollandtown, Gerald (Kate Brammeier) Kerkhof of Wilton, Iowa, Diane Kerkhof of Eau Claire, Carol (Frank) Albright of Fredricksburg, Virginia, Mary (Chris) Miller of Berea, Kentucky, William (Heidi) Kerkhof of Oshkosh; twenty grandchildren; and her brothers and sisters: Eunice (Alfred “Fritz”) Schmidt, Leo (Lillian) Gerrits, Harold (Mary) Gerrits, and Mary “Tess” (Leroy) Van Asten.

The funeral liturgy for Dolores will be held at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at ST. FRANCIS CATHOLIC CHURCH in Hollandtown with Fr. Jim Lucas officiating. Interment will be in the parish cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday from 4 – 8 PM. There will be a Wake Prayer Service at the funeral home at 7 PM Tuesday. Visitation will resume at the church on Wednesday morning after 9:30 AM.

Safely Home

I am home in heaven dear ones,
Oh so happy and so bright;
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over;
Every restless tossing past.
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.
Then you must no grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still.
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows;
Pray to trust our Father’s will.

FARGO FUNERAL HOME
400 W. Wisconsin Avenue
Kaukauna, WI 54130
920-766-6200