Virginia Zoelle, 96, Waterford, was born into eternal life on June 28, 2016. She was born on May 25, 1920, in Fond du Lac, to Gladys Klock Grabinski and Alfred Grabinski.
She graduated from Fond du Lac High School in 1938. She was an accomplished musician, playing cello in the first chair of the Fond du Lac Symphonic Orchestra. She also was a member of a String Trio that played at special events in the Fond du Lac area. She attended Carroll College in Waukesha, from 1938 to 1940, transferring to the UW–Madison in 1940. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1942.
She married her high school sweetheart, Edward J. Zoelle on April 23, 1942, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Fond du Lac. Edward served in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Europe during WWII as Virginia served her country on the home front by volunteering with the Red Cross Volunteer Nurse’s Aide Corp in Fond du Lac.
After the War, they went on to raise four children, Stephen Zoelle, Kingman, Ariz., Andrea Zoelle, Lockport, Ill., Barbara Zoelle-Johnson (Donald), Rushford, Minn., and Edward Jr. (Angie Krencisz), Waterford.
She was involved in community organizations while the family resided in Fond du Lac. This included serving as the president of the Catholic Junior League, president of the Women’s Service League and assisting with public relations with the League of Women Voters.
The family relocated to Richfield, Minn., in 1959. She entered the workforce in 1962 as an assistant librarian at the Bloomington Branch of the Hennepin County Library System. She continued in this position until the family relocated to Waterford in 1969. She resumed her library career with the Waterford Public Library in 1974, becoming the library’s director in 1976. As director, she is credited with profoundly expanding the materials and services offered by the library as well as the linkage to the Lakeshores Library System [1980].
Before her retirement from the library on April 1, 1994, Virginia was instrumental in laying the groundwork for what would become the new Waterford Public Library. She loved working in the community and after her retirement she worked at the Trim & Tidy Dry Cleaners in Waterford.
She was a lover of books, games and was a keen Scrabble player. In her own words, Virginia described her interests as “reading, gardening, music and the ‘particular interests of the children’.” She was a dedicated and loving wife and mother, an involved member of her community and a skilled professional in her career.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Gladys Grabinski and her husband of 69 years, Edward Zoelle.
There will be a Memorial Mass on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m., at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 305 S. First St., Waterford. Visitation is at 10 a.m., at the church with a luncheon to follow the Mass. The cremains of Virginia and her husband will be interred together at Rienzi Cemetery in Fond du Lac on Monday, Aug. 8, at 1 p.m. Schmidt & Bartelt Funeral and Cremation Services, Mukwonago is serving the family.
Well-wishers can visit www.schmidtandbartelt.com.
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