Bertha "Bert" Klitzke

Stoughton – Bertha C. “Bert” (Sass) Klitzke passed away peacefully following a brief battle with cancer on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at the age of 86 surrounded by loved ones in her home.

Bert was born on a farm near Ironton, Wisconsin on February 2, 1935, to Fred and Ruth (Tourdot) Sass.  She was baptized and confirmed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Reedsburg, Wisconsin and attended Hickory Grove in a one-room country grade school.  She graduated from Reedsburg High School in 1951 and worked as a waitress in Reedsburg before marrying Marvin Klitzke on June 10, 1954.  They moved to Seymour, Wisconsin December 1954.  She worked faithfully in her husband’s insurance business for the next 40 years.  Bert especially enjoyed attending American Family’s All-American Conventions for which her husband qualified for 28 consecutive conventions.  After leaving Seymour in 1959, they lived in Springfield and Decatur, Illinois until they moved to Stoughton, Wisconsin on August 1, 1965.  Bert was the first female member of the Stoughton Police and Fire Commission and spent several years as the commission’s secretary.  She was a recipient of the Shillelagh Foundation’s Citizen of the Year Award for her volunteer work in Stoughton.  After her retirement from working in insurance offices in 1996, she spent many hours volunteering her time doing office work at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Stoughton, as well as assisting her husband with his volunteer activities.

Bert and Marv loved golfing and she was especially proud of her two “holes-in-one”.  They enjoyed spending their late winters in Arizona each year and over the years have traveled to every state in the United States except Alaska.  She and her husband, Marv, were proud of the honor to be selected to reign over Stoughton’s annual Norwegian celebration as 2016 Syttende Mai King and Queen.  During the summer, Bert’s gardens’ flourished with her loving care.  In the winter, in her spare time, she really loved to read and enjoyed a good movie as well as working on jigsaw puzzles with her husband.  She especially enjoyed spending time with her family, including her fourteen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.  They all looked forward to coming to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Eve.

Bert is survived by her husband of sixty-seven years and four children, Debra (Steve) Dopuch, Mentor, Ohio; Kevin (Brenda) Klitzke, Stoughton; Robert (Laura) Klitzke, Stoughton and Patricia (Tim) Shackleton, Fitchburg, Wisconsin.  Also surviving are fourteen grandchildren:   Emily Drotleff, Meghan (Alex) Mannella, Taylor (Silvana) Dopuch, Michael Dopuch; Brett (Lora) Klitzke, Kirsten Klitzke (Shane);  Chelsea (Kyle) Drouin, Brandon, Tanner and Kelli Klitzke;  Daniel, Andrew (Ashlee), Joshua (Mareb), Jordan (Brittany) Shackleton; Great-grandchildren include nine great-grandsons Owen, Keegan, Collen, Easton, Eli, Alexander, Nicholas, Charles and Ethan and five great-granddaughters, Brooklyn, Evelyn, twins Willa and Flyn as well as Sawyer Reign.

Bert is further survived by brothers and sisters Rosemary Leake, Oxford, Wisconsin; twin sister, Betty Langenfeld, Lyndon Station, Wisconsin; Jerry (Vi) Sass, Reedsburg, Wisconsin; Clarence (Sharon) Sass, Arlington, Wisconsin; Bonnie (John) Berndt, Southside, Alabama.  She is also survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins.  In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by sisters, Anna Marie, Rosella, Luella, Mary Ann and brothers, John, Freddy and Lawrence Sass.

A Mass of Christian burial will be at 11:00 AM on Monday October 11, 2021, at ST. ANN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 323 N. Van Buren St. Stoughton with Fr. Randy Budnar presiding.  Burial will follow in Lutheran Cemetery South.  Visitation will be from 1:00 – 4:00 PM on Sunday October 10, 2021, at Cress Funeral Home, 206 W. Prospect St. Stoughton, and from 10:00 AM until the service at the church on Monday.

Mom will always be remembered for her quick wit, beautiful smile, little happy dances, and the love she showed her family and friends.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Service

206 W. Prospect, P.O. Box 231, Stoughton

(608) 873-9244