Nathalie Mae LaRue of Murrieta, CA, formerly of Monroe, WI, passed away Sunday, April, 24, 2016 after a brief bout of cancer, at age 87. Nathalie was born in Argyle, WI, November 9, 1928, to Leon Ivo & Selma Corinne (Nelson) LaRue. She was the eldest of 3 children. Nathalie is survived by her brother, Roger (Pat) LaRue, of LaCrescent, MN and a sister, Carol Swancutt, DeSoto, WI.
Nathalie married Lewie Niffenegger December 28, 1948 and then again on December 29, 1965. Yep! She married him not once, but 2 times! They finally parted ways on January 18, 1975. The road she chose was hard and unforgiving but she fought her way back and we're proud of her!
Nathalie grew up in Milwaukee, WI and had various jobs during her life. She started with cheesemaking and secretarial work, insurance and accounts payable at St. Clare Hospital. After retiring from St. Clare, she started care-giving for Alzheimer's patients in Monroe. Her true talent was caring for the invisible people. The invisible people are the mentally ill people we pretend not to see lying or sitting in the streets with seemingly nowhere to go. The State of Indiana hired her as a caseworker to corral them home, teach them how to take care of themselves, teaching them to take their medication, how to bathe, clean house, cook, wash laundry, grocery shop and balance a checkbook. On bad days, she took them home and watched over them. She always made sure they were clean, dry and fed. On holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter she made them special for them by making a huge feast for them. She did this for 10 years without a vacation because they couldn't find anyone willing to take on her charges. No one ever said "thank you for keeping an eye on crazy uncle Al" or "thank you for watching over LuLu". She watched over them because she cared. Nathalie made a hard decision to retire at the age of 76.
Nathalie moved to California with her daughter Karla (John) Wetteland to help care for her grandchildren and keep house. She was very close to Karla's 3 children, Aryanna (Jacob Haag) and Cheyann (Evan Bryan), especially Brianna (Joseph) Gheorghe who took great care of her toward the end.
Nathalie is survived by 7 children, Michael (Sandy) Niffenegger of Sun Prairie, WI, Christine Alexander of Fort Wayne, IN, Mary Jo (Craig) Zentner of Monroe, WI, Annie (Peter) Figi of Monroe, WI, Mark (Mary Jo) Niffenegger of Monroe, WI, Karla (John) Wetteland of Temecula, CA and Kim (Dennis) Matzke of Monroe, WI. She has 16 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, & 1 great great grandchild.
Although Nathalie lived across the county from most of her family, she cherished every letter, card and picture.
Fun facts about Nathalie:
She had a great sense of humor.
She could sing. She had a set of pipes on her that put Judy Garland to shame. She sang for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong for a season. Louie called Nath "Sunny" and said her voice was "Kissy Sweet".
She was a huge John Wayne fan. When her and a girlfriend found out that The Duke had a boat in the San Diego Harbor, they decided to rent a boat & cruise the area until he found them. He didn't!
Dody Murray gave Nathalie a black cat wrapped in a huge orange bow for Halloween. She called him Panther. Although he was adored by all of us kids, he worshiped her until the day he died.
Nath loved the color red. Back in the 50's, when living in Freeport, IL, the kitchen had a southern exposure. Nath painted the walls black, made blood red curtains trimmed in white lace. Her kitchen's fame grew far and wide. Complete strangers would ring the doorbell just to look at "that kitchen".
While living in Freeport, the house was on the edge of a new development and surrounded by fields. One day the area was covered in snakes - thousands of them. It was called a "snake migration". One minute they were there and the next, they were gone. Scary, but harmless. A couple of days later, Nath was putting laundry away in Michael's sock drawer. Michael had kept a couple of "souvenirs" from the migration. After that, Michael had to put his own laundry away.
The last couple of years, Nath lived in a retirement village. Her next door neighbor was very attentive to her - bringing her her newspaper every day and goodies now and then. He was retired from the Navy and had been married 4 times. Nath asked him what was wrong with him, having so many wives. His reply, "Nothin. I just love women and keep wearing them out." With a wink he added, "I'm always on the lookout for wife #5." Nath's reply "Yeah, well keep lookin', Bub."
Nathalie was honored in a private memorial service on the ocean. Nathalie was cremated and will be interred at a future date. Her wish was to be spread over the ocean where her first love's ship sank in World War II.
We appreciate any cards with memories of mother. Any monetary memorials should be sent for the Hospice House at the Monroe Clinic Hospital.
Nathalie married Lewie Niffenegger December 28, 1948 and then again on December 29, 1965. Yep! She married him not once, but 2 times! They finally parted ways on January 18, 1975. The road she chose was hard and unforgiving but she fought her way back and we're proud of her!
Nathalie grew up in Milwaukee, WI and had various jobs during her life. She started with cheesemaking and secretarial work, insurance and accounts payable at St. Clare Hospital. After retiring from St. Clare, she started care-giving for Alzheimer's patients in Monroe. Her true talent was caring for the invisible people. The invisible people are the mentally ill people we pretend not to see lying or sitting in the streets with seemingly nowhere to go. The State of Indiana hired her as a caseworker to corral them home, teach them how to take care of themselves, teaching them to take their medication, how to bathe, clean house, cook, wash laundry, grocery shop and balance a checkbook. On bad days, she took them home and watched over them. She always made sure they were clean, dry and fed. On holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter she made them special for them by making a huge feast for them. She did this for 10 years without a vacation because they couldn't find anyone willing to take on her charges. No one ever said "thank you for keeping an eye on crazy uncle Al" or "thank you for watching over LuLu". She watched over them because she cared. Nathalie made a hard decision to retire at the age of 76.
Nathalie moved to California with her daughter Karla (John) Wetteland to help care for her grandchildren and keep house. She was very close to Karla's 3 children, Aryanna (Jacob Haag) and Cheyann (Evan Bryan), especially Brianna (Joseph) Gheorghe who took great care of her toward the end.
Nathalie is survived by 7 children, Michael (Sandy) Niffenegger of Sun Prairie, WI, Christine Alexander of Fort Wayne, IN, Mary Jo (Craig) Zentner of Monroe, WI, Annie (Peter) Figi of Monroe, WI, Mark (Mary Jo) Niffenegger of Monroe, WI, Karla (John) Wetteland of Temecula, CA and Kim (Dennis) Matzke of Monroe, WI. She has 16 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, & 1 great great grandchild.
Although Nathalie lived across the county from most of her family, she cherished every letter, card and picture.
Fun facts about Nathalie:
She had a great sense of humor.
She could sing. She had a set of pipes on her that put Judy Garland to shame. She sang for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong for a season. Louie called Nath "Sunny" and said her voice was "Kissy Sweet".
She was a huge John Wayne fan. When her and a girlfriend found out that The Duke had a boat in the San Diego Harbor, they decided to rent a boat & cruise the area until he found them. He didn't!
Dody Murray gave Nathalie a black cat wrapped in a huge orange bow for Halloween. She called him Panther. Although he was adored by all of us kids, he worshiped her until the day he died.
Nath loved the color red. Back in the 50's, when living in Freeport, IL, the kitchen had a southern exposure. Nath painted the walls black, made blood red curtains trimmed in white lace. Her kitchen's fame grew far and wide. Complete strangers would ring the doorbell just to look at "that kitchen".
While living in Freeport, the house was on the edge of a new development and surrounded by fields. One day the area was covered in snakes - thousands of them. It was called a "snake migration". One minute they were there and the next, they were gone. Scary, but harmless. A couple of days later, Nath was putting laundry away in Michael's sock drawer. Michael had kept a couple of "souvenirs" from the migration. After that, Michael had to put his own laundry away.
The last couple of years, Nath lived in a retirement village. Her next door neighbor was very attentive to her - bringing her her newspaper every day and goodies now and then. He was retired from the Navy and had been married 4 times. Nath asked him what was wrong with him, having so many wives. His reply, "Nothin. I just love women and keep wearing them out." With a wink he added, "I'm always on the lookout for wife #5." Nath's reply "Yeah, well keep lookin', Bub."
Nathalie was honored in a private memorial service on the ocean. Nathalie was cremated and will be interred at a future date. Her wish was to be spread over the ocean where her first love's ship sank in World War II.
We appreciate any cards with memories of mother. Any monetary memorials should be sent for the Hospice House at the Monroe Clinic Hospital.