Lottie Lorraine Guenther (Opyd)

Lottie passed on to her spiritual life Tuesday morning, December 26th at Theda Clark ICU with her daughter and her family at her side. Lottie was born May 20, 1923 in Chicago, Ill. To Joseph and Marya (Zasadna) Opyd, both immigrants from Poland. At the age of 4, her family moved to Knowlton, Wisconsin. She grew up on the farm, was the only girl who played softball with the boys at school, and graduated from Mosinee High School. She married her romantic rural mail carrier, Cornelius Guenther, on January 27, 1944, in Monmouth, New Jersey. They were married for 59 years.

She resided in Chicago, New Jersey and Missouri and worked various jobs in Chicago until they moved back to Knowlton, Wisconsin after WWII. She lived in Mosinee, Wisconsin for 60 years, worked 18 years at the Marathon Battery Shop in Wausau, WI and afterwards worked in the ginseng fields. She was always active, learning and was the family oral historian with a phenomenal memory. She loved dancing, socializing, playing cards, babysitting, gardening, canning (especially dill pickles), baking (one-year baking 52 apple pies from her own trees which she shared with everyone), quilting, cake decorating, ceramics and making beaded ornaments. Everything she made became gifts for others. If you stopped by to visit, you didn’t leave without something to eat and drink, and there were long car-side goodbyes. And even in these days of fact-checking on the web, she is still 98% right! Lottie was a lifelong member of VFW Auxiliary Post 8733 and St. Paul Catholic Church. The daily rosary was a steadfast part of her life. The last 4 years of her life were spent in her own apartment next to her daughters at Lakefront Manor, Oshkosh, WI, where she was able to socialize with new neighbors as she loved visiting. Throughout her life, she never had an unkind word for anyone

Lottie is the last of 7 Opyd siblings and the last Guenther sister-in-law. She is survived by her son, Donald (Marilyn Scafe) Guenther; her daughter, Darlene Kolinski; three grandchildren, Mathew(Sarah) and Nathan (Cheryl) Kolinski and Charles Guenther; four step-granddaughters, Karen Shull, Kelly Gipson, Kathleen Slater and Kristine Knutson; six great-grandchildren and eight great-step-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Marilyn Opyd; and brothers-in-law, George and Donald Guenther; and Robert Kolinski and Carol Guenther. She was preceded in death by her husband, Cornelius; siblings, Joseph, Rose, Mary, Charlotte, Michael and Walter; and sisters-in-law, Margaret and Mary Guenther.

Services will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017 at St. Paul Catholic Church, Mosinee. The Rev. Donald Przybylski will officiate. Burial will be in St. Paul Cemetery, Mosinee. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Beste Funeral Home, Mosinee. Online condolences may be made at www.bestefh.com

A special thank you to Neenah Theda Clark Emergency and ICU staff for their exceptional skills, sensitivity, care and responsiveness to the needs and comfort of both Lottie and her family during this stressful time. A special thank you to Terry & Cheryl Schulte and Harry Gorski, who without their help, Lottie would not have been able to stay in her home as long as she did. We are eternally grateful. She will be greatly missed.