Fay Schoenemann

MADISON -- Fay Louise (Yarbrough) Schoenemann passed away December 14, 2013 at Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg, WI after a brief illness. She was 87. Fay was born September 27, 1926 in Pittsburgh, PA, the daughter of Margaret Louise (Fernandez) and William Elliot Yarbrough. She grew up in Starke, FL and came to Madison in 1944 to attend the University of Wisconsin. She graduated in 1948, majoring in Spanish and French.
Fay loved the study of languages and cultures, and embarked on numerous trips to countries around the world, mostly after age 50. Many of her trips were conducted through the Madison chapters of the Friendship Force and Sister Cities organizations. Her remarkable list of travel destinations included Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Russia, Poland, Columbia, Peru, Chile, Japan and Taiwan. Several of these countries she visited more than once. Her most recent Friendship Force trip, to Turkey, occurred in 2011 at age 84. She hosted return exchange visits from many of the countries she visited. She developed lasting friendships with people across four continents, and maintained active correspondence with many of them through this year, especially friends in Japan and Germany. Her travels to Lithuania led to her active involvement in the Madison Vilnius Sister Cities and Zaibas Lithuanian Dancers groups, which also continued until recently.
Fay loved gardening and the study of plants, and enjoyed her years-long effort to re-establish prairie habitat on land west of Madison. She also devoted much time to quilting, cross-stitching, and to family genealogy. Never tiring of learning, she tackled new languages well into her 80s. She bought her most recent computer in 2012 to facilitate her genealogical researches and accelerate her e-mail correspondence.
Through her travels and her volunteer activities here at home, Fay tried throughout her life to make a difference in the world through word and deed. She worked with the International Programs unit of 4-H at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, and was active into her 70s as a 4-H club and project leader, especially enjoying working with kids in textile arts such as weaving and knitting.
She is survived by John, her husband of nearly 65 years, sons Mark and wife Nancy of Leavenworth, KS and Erik and wife Bette of Soldiers Grove, WI, grandchildren Nicholas of Little Rock, AR and Caitlin of Leavenworth, KS, sister Mary West of Santa Cruz, CA, and nieces Kathy Segna of Anchorage, AK, Carol Corless and husband Dan of Capitola, CA, and Jan Leitch and husband Mark of Aptos, CA; also John's brother-in-law, Herman Knappe and his wife Marie of Cedar Rapids, IA and their family.
The family wishes to thank the nurses, medical staff, and volunteers at Meriter Hospital and Agrace HospiceCare for their support and for making Fay's final days as comfortable as possible.
No public services are planned. For those wishing to honor Fay's memory, the family suggests donations to Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg.