On Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, Evelyn Knoke Kullerstrand was reunited with the love of her life, Don. Born to Ernest and Merlinda (Jaeggen) Knoke on Feb. 20, 1926, near Elcho, Evelyn was the youngest of five children and was raised in a German-American family who taught her about faith in God and hard work.
Evelyn’s family was self-reliant and started a logging business. Her mother cooked meals and ran logging camps for lumberjacks with the help of Evelyn and her brother and sisters, while her father ran the logging operation. As the economy faltered in the Depression, the family moved to a farm without electricity or plumbing, providing everything they needed for food, and sold wood, dresses, ice, eggs, chicken, maple syrup and vegetables for income.
Evelyn was an eager student, and with the help of a neighbor learned to read even before she started kindergarten. The family settled in Wild Rose, where Evelyn graduated high school in 1943, then held jobs at a dime store and a raincoat factory.
A year later Evelyn aided in the War effort, working at Curtis Wright in Columbus, Ohio, and received a six-month scholarship to Purdue where she was trained in engineering drawing. She drafted plans for Helldiver airplanes.
After the war, she returned to Wild Rose and worked in the creamery for seven years. With encouragement from her brother Cal, a civil engineer who was aware of her aptitude for math, she enrolled at Murray State and then UW-Madison in mechanical engineering. She graduated with honors in 1956.
After an internship at Oscar Mayer, she landed a job as an engineer at RR Donnelly in downtown Chicago, where World Book Encyclopedias, Sears catalogs and Time magazines were printed.
It was in Chicago that she met Don Kullerstrand and fell in love in their mid-30s. He took her sailing on Lake Michigan. They soon married and started a family, and Evelyn supported the family while Don finished medical school.
She warmly welcomed Don’s daughter Ginny into the family. After living in Milwaukee and Detroit for Don’s internship and residency, they settled in DePere, where they raised their family in their fixer upper house on the Fox River, and joined Voice of Faith church.
Evelyn then focused on raising their four children and became an outstanding domestic engineer, putting her other career on hold. She took her kids on nature walks and enjoyed being a Girl Scout camp counselor. Evelyn enrolled each of her children in Montessori, convinced that early childhood education was important.
As Don became disenchanted with the rushed pace of medical care, she encouraged him to leave the financial security of his job and start his own practice so he could give his patients the care he thought they deserved. They celebrated with champagne and a candle lit dinner. For the remainder of his career, Evelyn was the business manager of his OB/GYN practice. Despite great pressure, they jointly decided their clinic would not provide abortions.
Evelyn delighted in seeing their patients start their families. She helped to educate new mothers on the advantages of breastfeeding, before the benefits of breast milk were widely understood. She took great pride in helping to start the Green Bay chapter of LaLeche League. In her active years, Evelyn enjoyed camping, sailing, skiing, square dancing, riding her bike, reading, sewing and listening to her extensive collection of classical music. Evelyn’s love for the Packers never waivered, even when they weren’t winning.
After retirement, Evelyn and Don moved to Madison to be closer to their grandchildren, joining All Saints Lutheran Church. Evelyn and Don adored their grandchildren, making each visit by each grandchild a warm memory. Evelyn’s deep faith guided her throughout her life and sustained her through Don’s illness and death in 2008.
Evelyn was blessed with many new friends in Oregon when she moved to Rolling Meadows in 2006 to be closer to Don, who was in assisted living. She loved the time she spent with her friends at exercise class at Oregon Senior Center. She will be remembered for being rock solid support for her family, her kind heart, compassion, humble nature, her simple wants and loving presence.
Evelyn is survived by two sons and three daughters, Ginny Kullerstrand of Orland Park, Ill., Laurie (Norm) Richard of Ramona, Calif., Scott (Diane) Kullerstrand of Dixon, Ill., Susan (Tim) LeBrun of Oregon, and Jim (Ellen) Kullerstrand of Whitefish Bay; grandchildren, Nicole (Rick) Whitlow, Sean and Jesse Richard, Emily, Erik and Ethan Kullerstrand, Elliot, Alex, Maddie and Nina LeBrun and Paul and Matthew Kullerstrand; great-grandchildren, Ryan and Alaina Whitlow; brother, Cal (Elsie) Knoke of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and sister, Lil Krause of Hibbing, Minn.
Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Don; grandson, Derek Mitchell; and two sisters, Arline and Ruth.
Funeral services will be held at All Saints Lutheran Church, 2951 Chapel Valley Road, Fitchburg, at 11:30 a.m., on Monday, Nov. 9, with the Rev. Richard Johnson presiding. Visitation will be held at Gunderson Oregon Funeral Home, 1150 Park St., Oregon, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, and at the church from 10:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Monday. Her family is establishing a scholarship and memorial in her name. Online condolences may be made at gundersonfh.com.
Gunderson Oregon Funeral & Cremation Care
1150 Park Street
835-3515
