Fritzi Vee

Fritzi Jane Vee, age 86, of Ripon, death came suddenly on Saturday, September 26, 2009, at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.

Fritzi was born in a log cabin that her father had built in Dentaybow, Minnesota on February 25, 1923. Fritzi Jane Vee was the 4th of 5 children to Lee and Leone (Fritz) Densmore. She was proud to say her elementary education was in a one room school house where her sister Katy was her teacher. During the Depression, the family moved back to the farm in Edgewood, Iowa. She graduated from Edgewood High School in Edgewood Iowa and attended Francis Shrimer College for two years and graduated from George Williams College in Chicago, majoring in social service in 1944. She married Chris Vee (Vlachos) in 1945 and assisted him in running several camps, but most notably Camp Sandstone on Green Lake, Wisconsin from 1958 until it closed in 1972. She raised two children in Park Ridge, Illinois and retired to Marco Island, Florida in the winter months and Green Lake, Wisconsin in the summer months. She selflessly served youth not only in camping but also as a Girl Scout leader. She passed on her passion for nature and gardening to her campers and family. She was very actively involved in PEO chapters on Marco Island, Florida and in Green Lake, Wisconsin. She attended United Church of Christ in Marco and in Ripon, Wisconsin. She was very active in various clubs on Marco, including the AAUW, League of Women Voters, Art League of Marco, Great Books and Marco Gardening Club. She was an avid bridge player and golfer and loved to swim and take walks. She worked tirelessly on her gardens and her painting, her two passions. She was an avid reader and very involved with national politics and current affairs. She also loved attending theatre and music concerts with the Green Lake Music Festival and Naples Philharmonic.

Fritzi is survived by her daughter, Nancy (Peter) Vandervelde, of Green Lake, Wisconsin, and her son, Dr. George (Gina) Vee, of Corvallis, Oregon; her brothers Jack (Betty) Densmore, and Frank (Faye) Densmore; grandchildren, Alexis (Brooks) McKee, Ariel Jane Vee, of Corvallis, Oregon, Drew (Eileen) Vandervelde of Ripon/ Green Lake, Wisconsin, Nicholas Vandervelde of Hawaii, Marten Vandervelde of Boston; great grandson Peter Joseph Vandervelde. Also special friends Dwight Newman, Jeanette Marlow, and Vivian Hickey. She was widowed in 1992 and also preceded in death by her older sisters, Lorna (Robert) Funk of Fullerton, California and Catherine Densmore of Denver, Colorado.

Visitation for Fritzi will be held Friday, October 2, 2009, from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church in Ripon, a Memorial Service will be held at 6:45 p.m. with Reverend Jack Kraaz officiating, in the church sanctuary. Memorials can be given to Alzheimer’s Assn, Southeast WI, 6130 West National Ave, Suite 200, Milwaukee, WI 53214.

Butzin-Marchant Funeral Home, Ripon, is assisting the family.
www.butzinmarchant.com