20 September 2024

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Helen Westimayer

Helen Westimayer


   Helen Westimayer, 95, of Horicon, died peacefully at her home Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, surrounded by her loving family.    Helen was born on December 21, 1928, in Beaver Dam, the daughter of Erwin and Cynthia (Bohnert) Marthaler. She graduated from Beaver Dam High School and went on to work as a secretary at Monarch Range. Here is where she met the love of her life Tony Westimayer.    On April 14, 1951, Helen and Tony were united in marriage. They were blessed with ten children and were able to enjoy 69 wonderful years together!    Helen's greatest joy in life was family. With the love and support of her mother-in-law and father-in-law, who lived right next door, she was able to devote her time to making their home and family a priority. As parents, they always put everyone else's needs before their own, providing loving guidance and generosity.    Helen's favorite titles were Mom, Mumsy, Grandma, and Great-Grandma. Any time spent with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were her most memorable treasures. All she wanted was for her family to be happy, to be healthy, and to know that she was always there for them. Mom and Dad had the biggest smiles whenever the little ones came around. Mom could always make you feel better just by hearing her voice, and the hugs she gave. Our memories are many.    If you knew Mom you were lucky. We can truly say that with all of our hearts, we couldn't have been blessed with a more loving, caring, generous and compassionate Mother. Our hearts are broken, but our amazing memories and her love will help us heal.    Helen is survived by nine children and their families, Dave (Jane) Westimayer of Horicon, Barb (Dale) Keach of Markesan, Tony (MaryKay) Westimayer of Horicon, Pat Spettel (Gary Klein) of Juneau, Susie (Jim) Schumacher of Horicon, Sandy (Randy) Franke of Horicon, Mike (Jodie) Westimayer of Burnett, Jon Westimayer (Elizabeth Kotewa) of Horicon, Kathy (Wes) Elford of Neshkoro; 23 grandchildren, Julia (Nate) Schultz, Ann (John) Hansen, Chris (Pam Hupf) Westfall, Matt (Laura Hammer) Westfall, Dylan (Alley) Westimayer, Katie (Jose) Torres, Karyn (Jay) Kroschel, Cody (Rachel) Westimayer, Adam (Annie) Spettel, Lucas (Kristie) Spettel, Jason (Andrea) Schumacher and Kenna, Jenni (James) Dietz, Nick Franke, Hailey (Cody) Apfelbeck, Emma Westimayer, Chloe Westimayer, Hunter Westimayer, Tanner Westimayer, Kayli Westimayer, Seth (Amanda) Westimayer, Aiden Westimayer, Karina (Carter) McCauley, Wesley Elford and 28 great-grandchildren, Elijah Schultz; Caden Hansen; Sam and Sully Westfall; Ella Westimayer; Isaac, Adrian, Jackson and Oliver Torres; Clayton, Coltyn, and Kynlee Kroschel; Aspen, Dakota, Charlotte, Bristol and Granger Westimayer; Lincoln and Addison Spettel; Natalie and Nolan Spettel; Avery Dietz; Lorelei Franke; Jace and Jack Apfelbeck; Liam Westimayer; Charlotte and Brooks McCauley. Helen is also survived by son Tom's life partner, Desi Wild; sister-in-law, Barb Marthaler of Beaver Dam; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.    Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Tony; her son, Tom; a granddaughter, Christian; her parents, Erwin and Cynthia Marthaler; her in-laws, Anton and Anna Westimayer; her brother, Floyd "Flip" Marthaler; nephews, Mark Marthaler and Steve Westimayer.    A private family funeral service will take place at the Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam. Interment will take place at St. Malachy Cemetery in Horicon.   The family would like to thank Maria, our guardian angel, for her wonderful care and loving support given to our Mother, which enabled her to remain in her home until God called her to his side.    A special thank you to the team of nurses and caregivers of SSM Hospice for their compassionate care.    The family requests those who wish to express sympathy consider making a donation to SSM Hospice Care.   Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at www.koepsellfh.com.

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Paul L. Farkas

Paul L. Farkas


   Paul L. Farkas, 78, of Fond du Lac and formerly Hoosick Falls, NY, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at the St. Agnes Hospice Home of Hope.   Paul was born on June 15, 1946, in Hudson, NY, to Louis and Elza (Aust) Farkas.   Brought together by their love of dogs, Paul married Marlene (Buehner) Kottke on February 4th, 2003, in Bennington, Vermont.    Paul retired from the state of New York as a Worker’s Compensation auditor; however, his greatest passion was music. Paul graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Music. He enjoyed sharing his love of jazz with his students when he was a music teacher, as well as anyone that would listen to him play one of his many beloved guitars.    While playing his guitar was his greatest pleasure, studying the Civil War was his greatest obsession. He spent much of his life reading books, watching movies, visiting historical sites, collecting artwork, and building beautiful replica guns from the Civil War era.   Paul and Marlene lived in Hoosick Falls, NY, until September of 2020 when they moved to Fond du Lac to be closer to family.   Paul is survived by his stepchildren, whom he loved as his own, Jeff (Tammy) Kottke of Slinger, Greg Kottke of Fond du Lac, Debbie (Greg) Krapfl of Leroy, Kim (Tony) Weinberger of LeRoy, and Julie (Mike) Gemmel of Mayville; 12 step-grandchildren and five step-great grandchildren.   He was preceded in death by his parents; and his beloved wife, Marlene.      A visitation for Paul will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, from 10 to 11 a.m. and a service at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Fr. Tom Biersack presiding at the chapel inside the Shrine of Rest Mausoleum in the Ledgeview Memorial Park in Fond du Lac.   The family would like to thank the staff at the Hospice Home of Hope for their dedication to providing the highest level of care, compassion, and dignity to Paul and his family over the last several months.    If desired, memorials may be made in Paul’s name to the St. Agnes Hospice Home of Hope.   Koepsell Funeral Home in Mayville is caring for the family. www.Koepsellfh.com

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Sandra K. Lichtenberg

Sandra K. Lichtenberg


   Sandra K. Lichtenberg, 81, of Mayville, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at Hope Health and Rehabilitation in Lomira.   Sandra was born the daughter of Theodore and Virginia (Swantz) Batterman on December 12, 1942. She was a 1960 graduate of Mayville High School.Sandra was united in marriage to Roy A. Lichtenberg on August 7, 1965, at St. Paul’s in Mayville.    She had worked as a waitress at Schreiner’s in Fond du Lac for over 40 years.   Sandra was an active member of St. Paul’s in Mayville and served her church as a Sunday school teacher, confirmation assistant and mentor, puppet ministry, and the sewing circle. She was also member of the Mayville American Legion Post #69 Ladies Auxiliary.   In her spare time, Sandra enjoyed the outdoors while gardening, taking care and feeding the birds. She was a wonderful cook and loved taking care of animals. Sandra will be fondly remembered for selflessness and how she was always there to take care of others.   Sandra is survived by her husband, Roy of Mayville; her children, Cindy (Dan) Mueller of Sussex, Gina (Troy) Rosedahl of Brownsville, and TJ (Nicki Luehring) Lichtenberg of Mayville; her brothers, David (Kathy) Batterman and Dennis (Laura) Batterman, both of Mayville; her grandchildren, Jordan (Lauren) Mueller, Jacob (Kathy) Mueller, Josh (Shannan) Mueller, Isaiah (fiancé Nolee) Rosedahl, Hannah (Owen) Halsne, Zachariah Rosedahl, and Rachael Luehring; great-grandchildren, Tayln and Lucas Luehring and one great-grandchild on the way; further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.   She was preceded in death by her parents; son, Daniel; and brother, Roger Batterman.   A funeral service for Sandra took place on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mayville with the Pastor Traci Maas officiating. A visitation was held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the church in Mayville. Interment took place at Graceland Cemetery in Mayville.Memorials in loving memory of Sandra can be directed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mayville.   Special thanks to the staff of Hope Health and Rehabilitation in Lomira and St. Croix Hospice for the care and support shown to Sandra and her family.   Koepsell Funeral Home in Mayville is serving the family. www.KoepsellFH.com

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Mark Alan Kuhlman

Mark Alan Kuhlman


   Mark Alan Kuhlman, 55, passed away Sep­tem­ber 17, 2024, after his 10-year coura­geous bat­tle with melanoma skin can­cer.   He was born Jan­u­ary 15, 1969, at Waupun Hos­pi­tal to Roy and Thirza (Tillema) Kuhlman.    Mark was born to be a farmer. From a young age, he helped his par­ents on the farm out­side of Hori­con. When he was about to enter kinder­garten, his Grandpa Kuhlman had to pay him to go to school be­cause he didn’t want to miss what was hap­pen­ing on the farm.   While he was in high school, he was in FFA and worked for Larry Pautz. After grad­u­at­ing Hori­con High School, he worked for Floyd Meinke while also help­ing on the fam­ily farm. Along with his fa­ther and mother, they built a suc­cess­ful dairy and grain farm.   On April 5, 2014, Mark met the love of his life, Stephanie Frei (the same day he was di­ag­nosed with can­cer). They were mar­ried dur­ing a bliz­zard on De­cem­ber 17, 2016. To­gether, they grew the Kuhlman fam­ily farm to what it is today.   While Mark was not one to join groups, he did like to sup­port things he be­lieved in. He con­tin­ued to sup­port the Dodge County Dairy Pro­mo­tion Com­mit­tee that his par­ents helped es­tab­lish, and in 2022 he and Stephanie hosted the Dodge County Dairy Brunch.    In 2023, he do­nated The Great Wall (grain bin en­trap­ment res­cue tool) to the Hori­con Fire De­part­ment.   Mark en­joyed going out to eat and host­ing friends for reg­u­lar Pack­ers par­ties. He val­ued all the friend­ships he made over the years, but es­pe­cially long-time friends Bill Haase, Fred Feucht, John Kraus, Den­nis Roskopf, Jeff Shaus, Rick But­ler, Todd Smith, and long-time friend and em­ployee, Ron Billings.   Mark was pre­ceded in death by his par­ents, Roy and Thirza; his sis­ter, San­dra Kuhlman; grand­par­ents, Clarence and Bar­bara Kuhlman, Jess and Mary Alice Tillema; un­cles, George Tillema, Ross Tillema, Ray Kuhlman; and his aunt, Shirley Rein­hardt.    He is sur­vived by his wife, Stephanie; his sis­ters, Laura (Bryan) Schmude, Linda Kuhlman, and Amy Kuhlman; step-sons, Mer­rick and Cody Frei; nephew, Zack (Dana) Schmude; niece, Ste­fanie Schmude; and great-nephews, Mason and Liam Schmude. Mark is fur­ther sur­vived by many other rel­a­tives and dear friends.    Fu­neral Ser­vices for Mark were held on Tues­day, Sept. 24, at Em­manuel United Methodist Church in Hori­con with Rev. Renae Dy­mond of­fi­ci­at­ing. Vis­i­ta­tion for Mark took place on Mon­day, Sept. 23, from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Koepsell Fu­neral Home in Beaver Dam and again on Tues­day Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. until the time of ser­vice at 11 a.m. In­ter­ment took place at the Low­ell Cemtery in Low­ell.    In lieu of flow­ers, do­na­tions can be made to the Dodge County Dairy Pro­mo­tion Com­mit­tee, SSM Health Can­cer Care in Fond du Lac, or the Juneau United Methodist Church.    Koepsell Fu­neral Home in Mayville is car­ing for the fam­ily. www.​Koepsellfh.​com
19 September 2024

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Bonnie L. Fechhelm

Bonnie L. Fechhelm


   Bonnie L. Fechhelm, 94, of Mayville, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, at her daughter’s home in Fond du Lac. After thirty years apart, Bonnie was reunited with her husband, Leo, on his birthday.   Bonnie was born to Dorothy Otto on May 22, 1930, in Mayville. She was a 1948 graduate of Mayville High School.   Bonnie was united in marriage to Leo A. Fechhelm on November 27, 1948, at St. Mary’s in Mayville.   Bonnie had worked for the Mayville School District as a bus driver for over 45 years and loved every minute of it!   She was a faithful and active member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Mayville. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella and the Mayville American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. Bonnie was also a member of the Mayville Senior Center and the TAG Center in Mayville.   In her spare time, Bonnie enjoyed gaming trips, playing bingo, and traveling. She also liked to knit and crochet. In her earlier years, she also raced cars for Don Schuppel. Her smile and kind heart will be deeply missed.   Bonnie is survived by her children, Rose Marie (special friend Ed) Cauwels of St. Cloud, Dennis (Sharon) Fechhelm of Delafield, Ralph (Mary Anne) Fechhelm of Simpsonville, NC, Faye Becker of Ripon, Barb (Bob) Keller of Mayville, and Judy (Mark) Marschall of Fond du Lac; her sisters, Carol (Marvin) Mueller of Fox Lake and Nancy (Russell) Kellum of CO; her 66 grand, great-, and great-great-grandchildren; further survived by other relatives and many friends.   Bonnie was preceded in death by her mother; her husband, Leo; son, Al; and daughter, Michele ‘Miki’.    A memorial Mass of Christian Burialwas held on Tuesday, September 24, at 1 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mayville with Rev. Fr. Ed Kornath presiding. A visitation was held from 11 a.m. until the time of the service at 1 p.m. at the church. Inurnment took place at St. Mary Cemetery in Mayville.   Memorials in loving memory of Bonnie may be directed to St. Jude’s or the American Heart Association.   Bonnie’s family would like to thank mom’s caregivers and special friends she met over the years at Adult Day Services. Also, the nurses and staff of SSM Hospice, thank you to Michelle Fleury Ries for her years of visits and friendship with mom.   Koepsell Funeral Home in Mayville is serving the family. www.KoepsellFH.com

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Peter J. “Pete” Albers, Jr.

Peter J. “Pete” Albers, Jr.


   Peter J. “Pete” Albers, Jr., 93 years, of Kewaskum, was called home to be with the Lord on August 28, 2024, at Kathy Hospice in West Bend, surrounded by his loving family.   Peter was born on August 8, 1931, in De Smet, SD, to Peter and Emma Albers (Hasche).   He was united in marriage to Joan Bossler January 14, 1956, and they celebrated their 67th Wedding Anniversary, prior to Joan’s passing in February 2023.   He graduated from Cedarburg Wisconsin High School.   Pete was an auto and heavy equipment mechanic/operator, truck driver for Mercury Marine, and an active Army reservist prior to employment with the Village of Kewaskum as Superintendent of the Water Pollution Control Facility until 1994; and after retirement as client liaison for Applied Technologies Inc. Environmental Engineers until 2018.   His passion was the education of future state certified operators and provided multiple years of internships at his facility. He was the recipient of numerous awards and Past President of the Wisconsin Wastewater Operators Association, an Honorary Member (bestowed upon a very few) and recognized for 50 years of service to the organization. Further, Pete was a life member of the Central States Water Environment Association and the American Water Works Association. He was also very involved with the Kewaskum Lions Club, as Past President and 45 plus years of volunteering.   Pete enjoyed the outdoors, RV camping, hunting, and fishing with friends and family. He appreciated mechanics and working on automobiles and motorcycles, and was a riding enthusiast until age 79. He enjoyed traveling, and visiting with his industry colleagues, sharing their mutual past and future experiences over cocktails and a meal.   Those who Peter leaves behind to cherish his memory include his two sons, Scott (Julie) Albers, and LaMont (Penny) Albers; his two adoring granddaughters, Paityn (Istvan) Biro and Griffyn Albers; great-grandson Theodore Biro; and brother, Art (Lorraine) Albers.   Peter was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, three brothers, and three sisters.    A Celebration of Life Reception was held on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service (1315 W. Washington Street, West Bend, Wisconsin).   A private family inurnment was in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Port Washington.   In lieu of flowers, cards, or gifts, Pete’s family wants you to express love to those closest to you!The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff at Froedtert MCW and Kathy Hospice for their care and compassion.   Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with Peter’s arrangements. Please consider signing our online guest book (www.myrhum-patten.com) to share your condolences with the family.
17 September 2024

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Elaine E. Schulz

Elaine E. Schulz


   Elaine E. Schulz (nee Meyer,) 91 of Rubicon, passed away Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in her home surrounded by her loving family.   Elaine was born November 10, 1932 in Hillpoint (Sauk County), to Hedwig D. (nee Brandt) and Silas M. Meyer. She was baptized on November 24, 1932, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hillpoint by Rev. J. H. Wiening. She graduated from Reedsburg High School on June 1, 1950, and worked for a law office in Baraboo for a short time.   She was united in marriage to Elmer J. Schulz on May 17, 1951, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hillpoint, officiated by her brother-in-law, Rev. Gilmore Lueck. Elaine and Elmer worked the family farm until their retirement in 1996. Elaine was a dedicated longtime member, choir member, and organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Huilsburg.   She was a member of Poh-Rab Snowmobile Club, Ridge & Valley Cruisers, FFA Alumni, AMPI, Partners of America, and Hartford Senior Friends, where she helped with ticket sales and played Sheepshead. Elaine enjoyed selling Sarah Coventry Jewelry, putting puzzles together, crossword puzzles, crocheting doilies and latch hooking, computer games, and baking cookies for children of all ages.   Elaine is survived by her children, Richard (Jolene), Gerald (Linda) of Neosho, Jeffrey (Bonnie) of Rubicon, Susan (Glenn) Wagner of Watertown, Terry (Robin) of Hartford and Rodney (Amy) of Slinger; 18 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren. She is further survived by her sister-in-law, Irmgard Meyer, among many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.    Elaine was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Elmer; sisters, Viola (Rev. Gilmore) Lueck, Margaret (Robert) Jensen, Valera (Rev. Willard) Koch; and brother, Elmer Meyer; parents-in-law, Thekla (nee Quandt) and Walter Schulz; brother-in-law, Armin (Gladys) Schulz and sister-in-law, Norma (Hillary) Strehlow.   Funeral Services for Elaine will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, at 2 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, W691 County Trunk S, Hartford (Huilsburg).   Family will greet relatives and friends on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Shimon Funeral Home, 824 Union Street, Hartford, WI 53027. Additional visitation will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, at the church from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.    Immediately following service, interment in the church cemetery and further fellowship will be held at the Trinity Community Center, N6409 County Road P, Mayville, WI 53050.    In lieu of flowers, memorials to Trinity Lutheran Church or to a charity of one’s choice, are appreciated.   The Shimon Funeral Home is serving the family. (262) 673-9500.  Condolences and tributes may be shared online at: www.shimonfuneralhome.com

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13 September 2024

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Jeanne M. Bauer

Jeanne M. Bauer


   The food jour­nal­ism in­dus­try lost a re­spected pro­fes­sional, friend and men­tor to many with the pass­ing of Jeanne M Bauer on May 24, 2024, at home in her beloved New York City.    Born on Sep­tem­ber 5, 1939, in Camp­bell­sport, Jeanne was pre­de­ceased by her par­ents, Floyd Thomas and Mil­dred (Schmitz) Bauer; brother, John F Bauer, Sr.; nephew, Joel Bauer; and great-great-niece, Hope Bauer.    She is sur­vived by six nieces and nephews, Gina Mohr, John Bauer Jr, Jill Carni (Al­bert), Jody Bauer (Laura), Jim Bauer (Shelly); and 16 great-nieces and nephews; and many cousins in Wis­con­sin and Ger­many.    Jeanne was a grad­u­ate of Alverno Col­lege, Mil­wau­kee.    She worked for Unilever early in her ca­reer, and then fol­low­ing her pas­sion for Jour­nal­ism, she moved to New York City to be­come Equip­ment Ed­i­tor at Amer­i­can Home Mag­a­zine. It was a job that helped de­fine Jeanne’s life in so many ways – from re­fin­ing her pas­sion for jour­nal­ism to meet­ing co-work­ers who be­came life-long friends.    In 1978, she was re­cruited by the mar­ket­ing firm Bots­ford Ketchum (now Ketchum Com­mu­ni­ca­tions) and re­lo­cated to San Fran­cisco, where she ex­celled at man­ag­ing food mar­ket­ing pro­grams for clients rang­ing from The Cal­i­for­nia Raisin Ad­vi­sory Board and Cal­i­for­nia Al­monds to Nor­way Sar­dines, Dole Foods, and Cham­bord Liqueur.    Jeanne bal­anced work with her love of travel, the­ater, mu­se­ums, and fre­quent week­end jaunts (in her bright red VW Bug con­vert­ible) to the wine coun­try in Napa and Sonoma Val­leys.    In the mid-1980s, Jeanne re­turned to her much-loved NYC and con­tin­ued her food mar­ket­ing ca­reer at Chiq­uita Brands.    Over the course of her ca­reer, Jeanne de­vel­oped a spe­cial fond­ness for the food­ser­vice in­dus­try. She found great joy in work­ing di­rectly with many top NYC chefs on be­half of her clients.    Ul­ti­mately, Jeanne left the cor­po­rate world and built her own busi­ness, serv­ing as a con­sul­tant to clients in the food and bev­er­age in­dus­try.    Through­out her ca­reer, Jeanne never hes­i­tated to share her wealth of knowl­edge with oth­ers en­ter­ing the in­dus­try, and be­came a val­ued friend and men­tor to many.    Her cre­ativ­ity and in­no­v­a­tive spirit melded seam­lessly with her pas­sion for food. She ex­celled at de­vel­op­ing new and sur­pris­ing ways of serv­ing up her clients’ food and bev­er­age prod­ucts.    Jeanne was a mar­velous cook and took great joy in using fresh sea­sonal in­gre­di­ents from New York’s farm­ers mar­kets as well as prepar­ing recipes she learned from her mother. She loved to en­ter­tain, prepar­ing de­li­cious meals that she served up in a con­vivial at­mos­phere that cel­e­brated her friend­ships as much as the food and wine she served. She fre­quently wel­comed out of town friends and col­leagues into her home, en­thu­si­as­ti­cally shar­ing the best NYC had to offer at that mo­ment in­clud­ing food, cul­ture and her lat­est shop­ping tips. Jeanne al­ways rel­ished the in­vi­ta­tions from her Amer­i­can Home friends who lived out­side the city and would reg­u­larly wel­come her into their homes for week­ends, hol­i­day fes­tiv­i­ties and week-long re­treat to the coun­try.    Giv­ing back to the city, she called home was very im­por­tant to Jeanne. For many years, she vol­un­teered through her church, St. John The Evan­ge­list Catholic Church, to bring food and com­pan­ion­ship to NYC shut-ins and se­niors.    Do­na­tions may be made in Jeanne’s mem­ory to The James Beard Foun­da­tion’s Women’s Lead­er­ship Pro­grams name as fol­lows:    Do­na­tion Link: https://​donate.​jamesbeard.​org/​give/​66854/#!/​donation/​checkout Donors should check the box “Ded­i­cate my do­na­tion in honor or in mem­ory of some­one” – Jeanne M Bauer. Al­ter­na­tively, checks can be mailed to: James Beard Foun­da­tion Attn: De­vel­op­ment 167 W. 12th St. New York, NY 10011 Please in­di­cate do­na­tion is for the Women’s Lead­er­ship Pro­grams in mem­ory of Jeanne M Bauer.