Marion Joyce Kircher

Marion Joyce Kircher of Butler passed away suddenly on Saturday at Butler Memorial Hospital.

She was born June 19, 1932, in Milwaukee, Wis., as the youngest child of Harvey Lecher and Lillian (Kemp) Lecher.

She attended and graduated from Milwaukee North High School and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education. It was at the university that she met her future husband, Thomas, a three-year starter on the football team.

She started her teaching career at Henry Clay Elementary School in Whitefish Bay, Wis., and taught at schools in Glendale and Grafton, Wis. She ended her teaching career in Aurora, Ill., where her family lived from 1969 to 1991.

Upon retirement, she and her husband moved to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, settling in Eagle River and enjoying the great outdoors.

Her retirement brought surprises to the family and friends as she challenged herself to become more physically fit and took up water aerobics, walking, golf and other outdoor activities.

She enjoyed traveling and visiting various historical sites with her husband.

During the winter months, she became a member of the Wisconsin “Snowbirds” club as she traveled south to Texas and the Alabama Gulf Coast.

She again surprised her family and friends when she continued her lifestyle of traveling south during the winter months even after her husband died.

Furthermore, she traveled to and from Missouri to take part in her great grandchildren's activities.

She finally was forced to limit her independent traveling and activities late in 2016 with the development of Crohn's disease and other physical and medical changes.

She spent the last 13 months living in New Haven Court Assisted Living in Butler near where her son lived.

The family wants to thank the New Haven Court staff for the care and activities that their mother experienced and enjoyed very much.

Marion's husband of 53 years, the late Thomas C. Kircher, passed away in 2008.

Marion is survived by her son William, of Butler, and daughter Kathy, of Nixa, Mo. She is the grandmother of Sam Corsolini, of Springfield, Mo.; Rose Corsolini Bilyeu of Springfield, Mo.; Angelo Corsolini of Nixa, Mo.; Tony Corsolini of Springfield, Mo.; and great-grandchildren Maddie, Katie, Tori and Harper Corsolini, and Gabby Bilyeu. Marion is the aunt for her nieces, Janet Boettcher of Maryland, Judy Presslein Greaker of Ohio, Debbie Whiting of Florida, and their mother, Carol Presslein of Florida; cousins Holly Bartholomew of Beaver Dam, Wis.; and sister, Joyce Kemp.

Marion's brothers Donald (1958) and Robert (2018) preceded her death.

KIRCHER — A family memorial for Marion Joyce Kircher, who died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, will be held in the Nixa, Missouri, area in January. A second family memorial will be held during the summer months at her home in Eagle River, Wis.Arrangements by Geibel Funeral Home, 201 E. Cunningham Street, Butler.For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.geibelfuneralhome.com.