Josephine A. Kolar

This elegy to our mom begins exactly as our father’s did five years ago because they truly shared a love and a life.  She missed him every day since he has been gone and now, we are happy that they are together again.

Josephine “Josie” Chernosko Kolar passed away on All Souls Day, Monday November 2, in the loving company of her family.  94 years a beautiful soul, 68 years a loving wife, 71 years a devoted mother, 42 years a proud grandmother of 17 grandchildren and 6 years a precious great grandmother of 10.

Josie was all about family.  She was the loving and attentive daughter of Ignatz and Theresa Chernosko and a loyal sister to her brother Paul and sister Margaret.   She was a loving wife and partner to our dad.  She often said they never had a fight, which is due to Josie never disagreeing with anybody. She was an amazing mother who dedicated her life to raising her children with strong values and instilling in them, by example, what a kind soul should look like.  Unselfish to the utmost degree, she gave of herself to anyone that needed her help. She was there when each grandchild came home from the hospital to help with the adjustment a new family member brings.  She loved to take her newborn grandchildren to the windows to introduce them to the “little birdies” that flew by to welcome them to the world.

Josie was a lifelong Kenosha “North sider,” attending St George Elementary and Bradford High, where she met Dad.  The night she met him, she told her sister Margaret that she found the man she was going to marry. World War II and Jack’s military service intervened and the two reunited at UW- Madison after the war.   Dad proposed to Mom at Liz Waters dormitory in 1946 and they married the next year and began their life together as students living in Madison.  Mom graduated from UW with a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development. By the end of her life she had a doctorate from the School of Life.  She wanted a big family and Jack and Josie had six children in the 50s and 60s.    Our family was blessed with many happy years living close to both sets of grandparents.    We always celebrated birthdays and holidays together as one big family-because Mom knew (and we quickly learned) that everything was so much better when spent with the people you love the most.  Sunday was always the time for a family meal with the Grandparents.  Being good Wisconsinites, there was always roast beef and a gallon of milk on the table!

By example, Mom taught us that faith and family are what matters above all else in life.  Mom was all about giving us what we needed to succeed.  Her self-imposed role was to feed and support us so we could do what we needed to do.  We never left home without a good breakfast in our stomach and Mom always had a pot of chili or BBQ when we returned home from wherever our lives took us.   A day was never complete without calls to or from her children, up until the very end.  We will all miss those daily check-ins with Mom.

Her little indulgences were bridge mix and cookie-cream-cookie-cream cherry dessert, a family classic for holidays.  Every December, we had a Christmas cookie baking day that Mom (and all of us) looked forward to each year.

Mom loved to wear hats and her large collection will be a fitting keepsake for her daughters and granddaughters.  We will wear them with pride.  Special memories for her grandchildren are days spent at “Grandma’s pool” with the cousins.  We think Grandma loved those days as much as the kids did.  We have so many amazing memories of this wonderful woman, we could go on and on, but suffice it to say, they are in our hearts and will always be cherished.

Mom was very social.  She and Jack played pinochle monthly into the wee hours of the morning with the same six couples for over forty years.  She had many friends, some dating back to her time in grade school. Until her death, she and Alma Lindl, her friend of 90 years, stayed close in person, by phone, and in their hearts.   Alma and Lucille Scholler Kloet were her lifelong BFFs.

She was a parishioner at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church her entire adult life.  She was a member of the Rosary Society for many years and fervently believed in the power of prayer.  A proud Slovak, she traveled with a church group to Czechoslovakia, the birthplace of her parents.

Mom and Dad were extensive travelers in their “empty nester” years, visiting Hawaii, California, Arizona, Florida and international destinations in Germany, France, Italy, and China among others.

Josie is survived by her six children, John (Mary) Kolar of Carlsbad, CA, Bill (Linda) Kolar of Middleton, WI, Mary Jo Kolar of Kenosha, Patty Kolar (Ed LaMacchia) of Santa Cruz, CA, Jane (Steve) Zongolowicz of Kenosha and Janet (John) Cain of Milwaukee, and her 17 grandchildren, John, Jenny, Matt, Chris, Sara, Max, Holly, Iggy, Willy, Otis, Stephanie, Sara, Jeff, Alison, Alex, Aaron and Elizabeth and 10 great grandchildren.

She was welcomed into heaven by her loving husband, Jack, her parents Iggy and Theresa, brother and sister, Paul and Margaret, and in-laws, John and Josephine Kolar.

She lived a long and extraordinary life, blessed with years of giving to others. The love she received was exceeded only by the love she gave.  Our hearts are full.

COVID took our mom from us and took away our ability to be together as a family to celebrate her beautiful life.  Please do your part to stop the spread of this devastating disease.