Vivian Jane Schulz, 91, passed away peacefully Friday, April 30, 2021.
Vivian was born in northern Illinois on Dec. 7, 1929 to Lila and Norbert Kerkman and grew up in Powers Lake, where she loved swimming in the summer and ice-skating in the winter. She had wonderful memories of her grade school years in the one room Randall School. Besides her mother and grandparents, she was raised by her stepfather, Carl Hlavacek. She graduated from Lake Geneva High School in 1947 and attended the teacher’s college in Union Grove for one year.
In 1949, she married young WWII veteran, Vernon “Buddy” Schulz at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Slades Corners. They were married for 69 years before his passing in 2018.
Vivian worked at the Master Mechanics factory in Burlington, and also took care of children, as well as raising four of her own. No one was more important to her than her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, all of whom, in her eyes, were perfect. She loved organizing trips to the Domes, parks, zoos, and museums for “the kids”. She was a person of strong faith, and was very prayerful. All of her family members, close and distant, were beneficiaries of her prayers.
After their years of raising children in Bohner’s Lake, Viv and Bud were able to travel the States. They especially enjoyed trips to Florida, the North Carolina and Oregon Coasts, and northern Nevada.
Vivian is survived by her four children, Susan (Gene) Frank, Connie (Rick) Kroken, Audrey (Bruce) Peterson, and David (Debbie) Schulz; four grandchildren, Amy (Erich) Eirschele, Jon (Erin) Peterson, Melissa (Josh) Walsh, and Dr. Abby Kroken (Joel Rusch); five great-grandchildren, Evan and Logan Eirschele, Henry and Violet Peterson, and Wilder Walsh. She is also survived by her sister, Rhonda (Wayne) Harmon and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Vernon Schulz; sisters, Violet (Henry) Tanking and Carole (Dennis) Braund; and brothers Merrill (Carol) Kerkman, and Gary (Patsy) Hlavacek.
“Her children arise and call her blessed” Proverbs 31 v 18.
Vivian’s funeral service will be at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Burlington on May 8, 2021 at 11 a.m. Relatives and friends can visit with the family at the church on Saturday, May 8, 2021 from 9:30 until 10:45 a.m. Burial will take place in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Slades Corners at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in memory of Vivian can be made to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Burlington or to Shoreland Lutheran High School in Somers.
Schuette-Daniels Funeral Home is serving the family. Well-wishers may visit www.danielsfamilyfuneral.com.
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