Kathleen Offerdahl

Kathleen June Offerdahl, of Urbana IL passed away peacefully with family at her side on September 8, 2025, at the age of 91. While somewhat expected after battling dementia for over four years, it is always hard to let go and say good-bye.

Kathy was born in Stoughton WI on December 3, 1933, as the daughter of Kenneth and Vernalene Wikum. She was preceded in death by her husband Richard Offerdahl, and daughter Judy Roegge. She is survived by her son Jim Offerdahl (Denise), grandson Jeff Offerdahl (Jessica) and great grandson Brooks Offerdahl all of Austin TX, and granddaughters Megan Friend (Steve) of Urbana IL, and Erin Bell (Zee) and great granddaughter Nyla Bell of Baltimore MD.

Kathy graduated from Stoughton High School in 1951, and married Richard Offerdahl on September 15, 1951. Daughter Judy was born in Stoughton in 1954, and son Jeff was born in Stoughton in 1956. Richard worked for Oscar Mayer for most of his career, which resulted in several family moves, from Stoughton to Warren IL in 1959, then to Pearl City IL in 1960, and then to Beardstown IL in 1966. After Richard retired from Oscar Mayer, they moved in 1993 from Beardstown to Urbana to be closer to their daughter Judy and son-in-law Chris Roegge and granddaughters Erin and Megan.

Kathy was a great mom! She cherished her children, Judy and Jim, took care of them when they were sick, consoled them when they were sad, and encouraged them to do their best, to be good people and to follow their dreams.

Kathy was a great spouse. She was always supportive of Richard, even when multiple moves may have been difficult for her. There was one time that she wasn’t so supportive - it was when Richard suggested that she paint the bathroom. Ya just had to be there😊! Seriously, their marriage was a great example for Judy and Jim. And who can argue about spending over 50 years together! It was at their 50th anniversary party that Jim noted that the vast majority of their friends that were there were also married around 50 years.

Kathy was a kind-hearted soul. She loved to laugh, which she did often. Richard was a great joke teller and he always had many jokes to tell. Kathy even laughed at hearing the same jokes over and over again for 50 plus years!! And Kathy continued to laugh a lot, even as her illness progressed over her last four years.

Kathy was content. She always seemed to see the bright side of things, even when something might go wrong. One of her favorite situational sayings was when things weren’t going as planned or they couldn’t afford something, she would say “we are just going to have to make do”, which she was just fine doing, and life would go on.

Her son Jim and son-in-law Chris were talking during a recent visit to see Kathy, and Jim said something about Alzheimers/Dementia being a horrible disease. Chris certainly agreed (his mother has it as well). But then Chris made a comment that it is clearly horrible for the families, and highly likely for the person afflicted, BUT maybe, just maybe, that person might be relatively content! For all we know, Kathy could have been having a grand-old time these last four years. Only God really knows.

Kathy had a strong faith. So strong that she made Judy and Jim go to Sunday School every week when they were kids! Seriously, all her family knew she had a strong faith, and she lived her entire life with her faith as her guide.

Kathy was gracious and forgiving. She never really said a bad word about anyone. She always tried to see the good in people. She was gracious even when Jim or Judy had done something wrong (yes that did happen occasionally!). Kathy had a great manner in how to teach her kids lessons. Typically, during the grounding period Kathy would talk about what was done wrong, and how doing good things had much better outcomes than doing bad things.

Kathy was smart and wise. She, just like Richard (and his father too!), wisely stressed to Judy and Jim over and over again to get a good education, including going to college, which neither Kathy nor Richard did. They sacrificed a lot financially to put Judy and Jim through college, who really appreciated their wisdom and sacrifice in this regard. And speaking of smart, in going through Kathy’s report cards from her high school, there was no surprise – she had straight A’s!! She set the bar high!

In conclusion, special thanks to the caregivers at the memory care facilities at both Amber Glen and Clark Lindsey in Urbana. It takes very special people to work with memory care patients, and the family is so grateful for the excellent care that Kathy received in her more than four years at those facilities. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for how you treated Kathy and for what you do every day.

Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Monday September 15, 2025 at Cress Funeral Service, 206 W. Prospect St., Stoughton, Wisconsin with a Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. Burial will be thereafter at the East Side Cemetery (Lutheran East Cemetery) at 200 County Highway N in Stoughton.

For donations and in lieu of flowers, please give to Alzheimer’s Association at https://alzfdn.org/donate/