Elaine Weidemann

Elaine Schaetzel Weidemann, age 85, died Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at Agrace HospiceCare, surrounded by her family.
Elaine was born March 28, 1929, in Germantown, Wis., the daughter of Lavern and Lillian Schaetzel. Elaine, along with her parents and sister, was active in her church and community. During their family trips to northern Wisconsin she developed a love of natural beauty. Her family believed in the goodness of all people, which became a major guideline for her life. A member of the Menomonee Falls High School Class of 1946, she received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1950. A year later she married Tom Weidemann, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., and settled in West Bend, Wis., where together they reared two children. In West Bend, she was very involved in the Fifth Ave. United Methodist Church and in the community. Elaine received her teaching certificate from UWM in 1970, and taught Middle School in West Bend from 1970 to 1975.
In 1978, Elaine received her M.Ed. from National College of Education in Evanston, Ill., as a Reading Specialist. She worked for the College and helped found the Good News Tutoring Program, a program for non-reading students in northeast Chicago, before returning to West Bend in 1984 to serve as director of lay ministry at the Fifth Ave. United Methodist Church.
Elaine earned both an M.A. in Social Work from The University of Chicago and an M.Div. in Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary in 1989. She was ordained an Elder in the United Methodist Church in 1991, and served churches in Beloit and Milwaukee before retiring and moving to Madison in 2000. She continued to be active on the Peace Committee at the Wisconsin Council of Churches and served on the Board of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice. In 2012 she received the Perry Saito Award for lifetime achievement from the Wisconsin United Methodist Federation for Social Action for her work in peace and justice.
Strongly influenced by her travels to Central America, Elaine was a strong, fiercely independent, courageous, fun-loving and compassionate woman with a lifelong passion for learning and social justice, and she formed deep and lasting friendships throughout her life.
She is survived by her children, Michael (Voneva) Weidemann of Glenview, Ill., and Sally (Chuck Mitchell) Weidemann of Madison; granddaughters, Emalee (Brent) Quickel of Wilmington, N.C., and Nellie Mitchell of Washington, D.C.; extended family and many friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lavern and Lillian Schaetzel; her sister, Janean Schaetzel; and her former husband, Tom Weidemann.
Memorial services for Elaine will be held at Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 W. Main St., Madison on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014 at 2 pm; and at Fifth Ave. United Methodist Church, 323 S. 5th Ave., West Bend on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 at 11am. A visitation and reception will follow each service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Bread for the World or a charity of the donor's choice.
The family would like to thank her many friends, and the caregivers at St. Mary's Hospital and Agrace Hospice for their compassion, love and caring.