Obit: Kaz, Joan “Jo” Louisa (1931- 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Kaz, La Marche, Wolf, Sondergaard, Furlan,

----Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co, WI) 8/21/2013

Kaz, Joan “Jo” Louisa (26 August 1931 - 16 August 2013)

Joan “Jo” Louisa Kaz passed away on August 16, 2013, at her home in Dewey, AZ, surrounded by her family. Jo was born August 26, 1931, in Stanley, WI, and grew up in Thorp, WI. She was the daughter of Gordon and Nora (La Marche) Wolf, proprietors of The Wolf Drug Store, where she worked while attending high school, graduating from Thorp High School in 1949. She attended Wisconsin University-River Falls, WI, 1949-1950. She then enrolled in an Eau Claire, WI business school and found employment in Washington, DC, working for the Pentagon - Bureau of Ships. She married her high school classmate, Arthur Kaz, in San Antonio, TX, at Lackland Air Force Base, on August 23, 1951. They made a career of the Air Force with assignments in Omaha, NE (Offutt), Wahiawa, HI (Wheeler - twice), Lompoc, CA (Vandenberg AFB), and San Antonio, TX (Randolph AFB - twice). Jo worked at each duty station in office management, bookkeeping and accounting. Together, they enjoyed bowling, camping, cooking, canning, and most of all, their church communities and friends. Upon their retirement from the Air Force in 1971, they moved to Phoenix, AZ, where they both worked another five years, Art with the City of Phoenix as a computer programmer and Jo as a bookkeeper/accountant with Black and Decker.

Upon terminating those jobs in 1976, they relocated to the Seligman, AZ area where Jo continued employment with the Yavapai School system as a financial accountant-office manager for another 20 years, retiring with the State of Arizona in 1998. After her retirement in 1998, Art and Jo relocated to Dewey, AZ where she developed a love and devotion to her church community and friends at St. Joseph’s in Mayer. There, she served as a Eucharistic Minister, as well as performed other functions to assist in any way she could. Throughout her life, Jo loved helping others and homemaking. She was a great cook and knew how to keep things organized.

Joan is survived by her sons: Ken (Sandy) Kaz of Severn, MD, and Doug (ZaZa) Kaz of Three Rivers, TX; two grandchildren: Brandi Kaz of Raleigh, NC, and Brent (Tasha) Kaz, and two great-granddaughters (Tori and Taylor) of Spring, TX. Also surviving is her sister, Charmaine (Al) Sondergaard of Mesa, AZ; two nephews: Garry (Darlene) of Lake Tapps, WA, and Scott of Orland Park, IL; two nieces: Nancee (Dan) Furlan and Noelle (Dave) of Mesa, AZ; a brother-in-law, Jim (Toni) Kaz of Thorp, WI; and 11 Kaz nieces and nephews residing in California, Wisconsin, Texas and Minnesota. Joan’s husband, Arthur Kaz, preceded her in death in 2008; her mother in 1951; and her father in 1986.

Joan Louisa Kaz

Jesus saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be.
So he put His arms around you
And whispered, “Come with me.”

With tearful eyes we watched you suffer,
And slowly fade away.
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.

You faced your task with courage.
You felt your hope descend,
But still you kept on fighting,
Until the very end.

A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands went to rest.
Jesus broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.

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