MONROE - Friends and family throughout the community are mourning the death of Katheryn S. Etter, Monroe's first school nurse who helped co-found the Monroe Woman's Club Christmas Stocking Project, among many acts of public service here.
Etter, who died at home Wednesday, was 96.
"She helped a lot of people and I can't begin to name all of the lives she touched," said Mary Deininger, a friend and member with Etter on the stocking club committee.
Friends said it was Etter's more than three decades as a school nurse that likely prompted her to help launch and grow the stocking club, an annual tradition for helping needy school children and their families during the holidays.
"I think that's how she saw the need for (the Stocking Club)," said Kathy Reffue of Monroe, who is also involved with the club and worked closely with Etter. "She saw at school that kids didn't have the things they needed."
The stocking project, she added, started humbly.
"She said 'If they could at least get a toy,' even underprivileged children could experience the joy of Christmas, said Reffue.
Eventually, with the help of Etter and others, the program would grow to include food and other items collected and given to needy families.
So dedicated was Etter, Deininger says, there were years in which Etter could be found loading up her own kids into the car on Christmas to deliver presents around town to other children who desperately needed them.
Etter also volunteered for numerous other organizations, including the local Salvation Army, the Senior Center, and local food pantries, Deininger said,
A 2008 Monroe Times story described Etter's early life in Monroe. She came to Monroe with her family in 1920, moving to the house in which she lived her entire life and died. In the story, Etter recalled feeling "lucky" to have a furnace and telephone.
Aviation drew her interest in those early years, after a plane landed in a field near her home in the 1920s. Later, she would take her first airplane ride and travel to Madison to see Charles Lindbergh after his famous flight.
In her later years, Etter remained active and was known for "saving everything," including newspaper clippings and photographs that she would often give away to people she knew, friends said.
"She was a fantastic woman and she lived a long and wonderful life," Deininger said.
Shriner-Hager-Gohlke Funeral Home of Monroe is handling funeral arrangements.
Etter, who died at home Wednesday, was 96.
"She helped a lot of people and I can't begin to name all of the lives she touched," said Mary Deininger, a friend and member with Etter on the stocking club committee.
Friends said it was Etter's more than three decades as a school nurse that likely prompted her to help launch and grow the stocking club, an annual tradition for helping needy school children and their families during the holidays.
"I think that's how she saw the need for (the Stocking Club)," said Kathy Reffue of Monroe, who is also involved with the club and worked closely with Etter. "She saw at school that kids didn't have the things they needed."
The stocking project, she added, started humbly.
"She said 'If they could at least get a toy,' even underprivileged children could experience the joy of Christmas, said Reffue.
Eventually, with the help of Etter and others, the program would grow to include food and other items collected and given to needy families.
So dedicated was Etter, Deininger says, there were years in which Etter could be found loading up her own kids into the car on Christmas to deliver presents around town to other children who desperately needed them.
Etter also volunteered for numerous other organizations, including the local Salvation Army, the Senior Center, and local food pantries, Deininger said,
A 2008 Monroe Times story described Etter's early life in Monroe. She came to Monroe with her family in 1920, moving to the house in which she lived her entire life and died. In the story, Etter recalled feeling "lucky" to have a furnace and telephone.
Aviation drew her interest in those early years, after a plane landed in a field near her home in the 1920s. Later, she would take her first airplane ride and travel to Madison to see Charles Lindbergh after his famous flight.
In her later years, Etter remained active and was known for "saving everything," including newspaper clippings and photographs that she would often give away to people she knew, friends said.
"She was a fantastic woman and she lived a long and wonderful life," Deininger said.
Shriner-Hager-Gohlke Funeral Home of Monroe is handling funeral arrangements.