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Hulda Elizabeth Dix
Hulda Elizabeth Dix

Hulda Elizabeth Dix, age 94, of 606 S. Walnut, Apt 512, Marshfield, passed away peacefully at her home on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, under the loving care of her family after a long life well lived.

Hulda was born at Deaconess Hospital in Monroe, Wisconsin, on January 3, 1926 to Adolf and Emma (Feller) Feller, immigrants from Switzerland. Despite being the youngest by thirteen-years, Hulda was close to her siblings, Emma, Rudy and Robert. After her mother passed away, eleven-year-old Hulda moved to the home of her sister and brother-in-law, Raymond Campbell outside Clarno, Wisconsin, but spent many weeks each year at the homes of her brothers and their young families as well.

After graduating the 8th grade, Hulda worked various jobs in Monroe. It was on a visit to the farm of one of her brothers that Hulda met her husband. Her sister-in-law said with a wink and a nudge, “you should see the new hired man.” On August 4th, 1942, Hulda married that hired man, the love of her life, Lyle Joseph Dix, at Corpus Christie Church in Bakerville.

Hulda and Lyle farmed in Green County for 18 years, then moved to Wood County where they farmed briefly before moving into Marshfield. Besides farm work, which included learning to drive a tractor and outrunning a billy goat, Hulda worked as a cook and pastry chef at the Downtowner Supper Club, a laborer at the door manufacturing plant, a Montgomery Ward’s clerk, and, lastly, an appointment coordinator at the Dental Clinic of Marshfield, from which she retired after 15 years in 1988. She was always proud of the fact that she had been part of the transition to computerized appointment programming.

Hulda and Lyle had a sense of adventure that carried them to Canada many times to go fishing, out west with the in-laws, to Mexico on several occasions with friends, on a canoe trip with the whole family, to Nashville, Look Out Mountain and back with her widowed sister and two grandchildren. Every season was filled with fishing, spur-of-the-moment Sunday drives, visits with family in the Marshfield and Monroe areas, and lots of camping (in tents, under propped canoes, in a converted bus, and eventually in campers).

Hulda’s life turned upside down when, after 5 months of retirement, her husband passed away. Being a widow was not an easy transition, but she faced it with courage, stubborn independence and a determination to write the next chapter. Hulda traveled to visit friends in Texas as well as family in Ohio, Mississippi and across Wisconsin. She and her siblings planned trips to casinos and jaunts to see cousins in Iowa. She continued the tradition of going to Canada fishing with friends and family. She helped her sons at the family business, Lyle’s Sharpening Service, later Newco Sales, Inc. She was indispensable to her grandchildren and, when the chance arose, she cared for her great- and great-great grandchildren.

Her favorite things included baking treats for gifts and events, playing cards, dancing, polka music, Swiss yodeling, casino trips with friends, visits with grandchildren, ice cream, and sending photos of her eating ice cream to her son to make him jealous. Her hobbies included embroidery, managing the bingo program at her apartment building, and baking banana bread for friends and neighbors who were always giving her bananas.

Those left to cherish her memory are her son, Lyle (Judith) Dix; daughter-in-law, Joan (Grutzik) Dix; her four grandchildren, Melanie (Jordan) Franklin, Brian (Linda) Dix, Christina (Kevin) Hyde and Austin Dix; her eight great-grandchildren, Jacob (Tina) Dix, Ian Franklin, Jered Dix, Zachary (Jacque) Franklin, Justin (Sadie) Dix, Phoenix Hyde, Wyland, Hyde, and Sienna Hyde; and her four great-great grandchildren, Kaelyn, Easton, and Ryot Dix and Isaac Franklin.

Surviving nieces and nephews include Richard (Ilene) Feller, Monroe, Roberta (Bob) Everson, Middleton, Nancy (Bob) Wunchel, Juda, Virginia (Alton) Stuckey, Twin Grove, Dennis (Grace) Feller, Columbus, Ohio.

Hulda was predeceased by her spouse, Lyle J. Dix; her son, David Daniel Dix; her parents; her siblings, Emma (Raymond) Campbell, Robert (Rose) Feller, and Rudy (Helen) Feller; by her grand-daughter-in-law, Lisa (Genteman) Dix; and by her nephew, Robert (Wanda) Feller.

A private memorial service to honor Hulda will be held at Hansen-Schilling Funeral Home, 1010 East Veterans Parkway, Marshfield on Monday, August 17, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. Reverend Mark Krueger will officiate. Visitation for family will be one hour before the time of service. For those unable to attend, her service will be live-streamed at https://www.hansenschillingfuneralhome.com/livestream.