Kathleen Liljequist

"When I was very young/Sundays were always sunny, /Bright rays of summer quiet. / Loved and secure, I did not need/Golden light to warm me." - Kathleen Liljequist. Gentle, kind Kathleen Liljequist, age 97, passed away on February 5th, 2022, at Four Winds Manor in Verona, WI.  She was born on June 25, 1924, in Oshkosh, WI, the oldest child of Earl and Winifred Brown.

Kathleen spent most of her youth in Madison, graduated from West High School, and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1942.  At Bascom Hall, in Freshman English Class, she met Stretch Liljequist.  Kathleen, ever the romantic, said it was the proverbial "love at first sight".  A whirlwind romance followed; the pace heightened by the growing tension of WWII.  Kathleen and Private Liljequist were married in Camp Polk, LA, on August 29, 1944, just before Stretch shipped overseas.

Following the war, Kathleen became the classic '50s homemaker and mother to Eric, Kristin, and Peder.  Reading was a huge family pastime, but Kathleen had another passion as well.  Her family had made an extended camping trip to National Parks in the West in 1937.  She fell in love with the wilderness, and quietly but persistently nudged Stretch in that direction.  In the '50s he yielded to her gentle persuasion, and their lives changed forever.  The family spent part of every summer camping and hiking across the West.  Small but tough, she hefted a large backpack over mountain passes the names of which echo in the mind:  Swiftcurrent Pass, Pitamakan Pass, Gunsight Pass, Ptarmigan Pass, Sundance Pass, Dawson Pass and many others.

Kathleen and Stretch retired to Tucson in 1986, where they continued to enjoy hiking, backpacking, and birding.  In 2008 they relocated to Madison and became members of the First Unitarian Society, where Kathleen sang in the choir.  They celebrated their 73rd Wedding Anniversary in 2017, prior to Stretch's death.

Kathleen is survived by sons Eric (Nancy) and Peder Liljequist; daughter Kristin Liljequist; grandchildren Shaw Liljeqvist; Kiva (Chris Wright) Liljequist; Leif Liljequist (Kendra Hatch); great-grandchildren Kai and Siri Liljeqvist; Ione and Linden Wright; and Sailor Liljequist; sister Elaine Brown Kirst; very special cousin Jean Vroman Showers Nelson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Kathleen was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Winifred Brown; brother Dr. Richard Brown; Brother-in-Law Eugene Kirst; Sister-in-Law Marge Brown; nephew R.J. Brown; and niece Dr. Laurel Salton Clark.

The family wishes to express a very special thanks to the staff at Four Winds Manor in Verona, and to Agrace Hospice Care.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, 3330 Atwood Avenue, Madison, 537704.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Madison Audubon Society, 1400 E. Washington Ave., Suite 170, Madison, WI, 53703.  Please share your memories of Kathleen.

"Mornings In the Nest: When I was a little boy,/ too young for school,/ I would be at home alone with my/mother, for most of the day./If the weather was bad/ or I was bored with play,/ she would find great ways to/entertain me, and show me things./ Sometimes she would read Tom Sawyer to me, laughing aloud./Sometimes she'd play music for me,/ like Peter and the Wolf, or/she'd play 'Winnie-the-Pooh',/ read by Jimmy Stewert, as I followed in my picture book./But, next to reading, I liked it best/ when we sat at the piano/and she would play music./Sometimes she'd sing, or we would sing together,'Shennandoah'/ or 'This Land Is Your Land'./  And sometimes she'd play songs for me to sing to her,/ like 'Johnny Came Marching Home' or 'Silent Night'./ And I have loved reading and music/and especially singing,/ all of my life"  - by Peder Liljequist