Dorothea "Dee" Jorgensen

Loving and much loved wife, sister, mother, grandmother, teacher, and humanitarian Dorothea Kern Jorgensen of Oconomowoc passed on October 24, 2014, of natural causes, at 79. She is survived by her husband, Charles M. Jorgensen; sister Kathleen Kern Carney (Charles), Bluffton, S.C.; children Thomas C. Jorgensen (Linnea), Long Beach, CA, Eric K. Jorgensen (Sarah), Delafield, WI, and Kurt A. Jorgensen (Roberta), Kenosha, WI; grandchildren Hannah, Elizabeth, Katherine, Nicholas, Madeleine, Antonio, Charles, Christine, Grace, and Marielle. She was predeceased by her parents and sister Anita Kern Uecker (Lynn). Dee was born on May 7, 1935, to A. Kenneth Kern and Pearl Whitman Kern in Madison, Wisconsin, followed by sisters Anita and Kathleen. She was raised in Fennimore, Wisconsin, graduating from Fennimore High School in 1953 as the valedictorian of her class. She then attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where she met her future husband, Charles, graduating in 1957 with a degree in education with high honors (election to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year). Charles and Dorothea were married on August 2, 1959, and had been married 55 years at the time Dorothea passed. Dorothea was a teacher. She initially taught at Midvale Elementary School in Madison, then taught in Peoria, Illinois, while Charles worked at Caterpillar. Afterward they moved to West Allis, Wisconsin, where she taught second grade until son Tom was born. Throughout the rest of her life she charitably tutored special needs children and adults, helping them learn to read and write, for which she was publicly appreciated by Milwaukee Magazine in 2007. She was an active member of Good Shepherd and Christ the King Lutheran churches in Waukesha and Delafield, contributing many years of service to the Waukesha Food Pantry. She loved reading, was an avid book collector with three large libraries, and was a member of multiple book clubs over the years; was an excellent gourmet chef; and greatly enjoyed traveling throughout the world with her husband. Most importantly, she will be remembered as a good, kind, generous, and loving person, much loved by her family and friends -- the many people whose lives she warmed and colored richly. Funeral services for Dee will be on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at Christ the King Lutheran Church (1600 Genesee St. Delafield WI 53018) at 11:00 AM with a visitation being held on Tuesday from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Pagenkopf Funeral Home and from 10:00 AM until the service at 11:00 AM at church. Burial will follow the service at Summit Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (http://www.alz.org/sewi/) or Food Pantry of Waukesha County (http://waukeshafoodpantry.org).