Obituaries

Athleen Agnes Haas Athleen Agnes Haas tap danced her way to heaven just after 2 p.m. on December 8, 2021, where she was reunited with her husband, Herman C. Haas, parents Albert and Ruth Ida Weiske, her siblings – Jim Weiske, Margaret Haas, Gordon Weiske, Jerry Weiske, Robert Weiske and Mary Mistele, their spouses – and countless friends. Athleen built the 97 years of her remarkable life on a granite-hard foundation of faith in God and an undeniable dedication to Catholicism Christianity that guided every day of her life. She deeply loved the five children she raised on her own after husband Herman died way too young of a brain tumor. She welcomed grandchildren, had fun with nieces, nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews and two great-grandchildren. Athleen preached true friends are a person’s gold. You pick them, and if you’re lucky, they pick you back. Judge no one, she’d say. You are no better than anyone and no one is better than you. And when leaving her for college seemed unthinkable and gut-wrenching, she said: “Just look up at the moon and we’ll be looking at it together.” And in the next breath came: “Now, get out of the car, make new friends and don’t come home every weekend. Find your way.” She walked the talk. She had friends of all ages – including the remarkable neighbors on Winsted Street, the St. John’s Church community and especially the many students she laughed with, listened to, anonymously funded lunch tickets for and provided the all-important excused tardy slip for just about any reason during her 30 years with the River Valley School District. “I miss the kids,” she’d often say well into her 90s, followed by: “I wish I was still working.” She was a worker. Born August 9, 1924, in Montello, the family moved when Athleen was small to Baraboo, where her father Albert had his monument business. As was the case with many kids during the Depression, Athleen worked to help the family, recalled using cardboard to keep the shoes wearable and watched her mom provide food to anyone who asked for help. Athleen was 8 when her father died, leaving her mother to raise the family and run the business. She loved the dances at Devil’s Lake State Park and just being outside. But, she also remembered the national pain of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fear of seeing her brothers leave for war duty and the sorrow of watching her classmates depart Baraboo to fight in World War II and never return. Athleen also worked at Badger Ordnance, where a co-worker arranged for his soldier brother to meet Athleen when on a home visit during World War II. Herman, who served in the U.S. Army, showed up at the Ringling Theater in Baraboo and took a chance she’d be there. They were married weeks later at New Orleans on July 16, 1945. The couple eventually moved to the Los Angeles area in California where their children David, Anne (Dyson), Mary (Haas Archer) and Ruth (Haas May) were born. When Herman’s brain tumor advanced, he left California to seek more medical treatment and to stay with his father, George Haas, in Spring Green. Athleen then moved the family to Spring Green. The family enjoyed months together. Then, the couple welcomed their fifth child, Joanne. The tumor advanced and took Herman’s life months later. Her top and beloved job was to raise the five children in Spring Green, a village she always said “has been good to me.” Along the way, she made friends everywhere. Notably at school. Let the record show she treasured her three decades and all those students who went through the River Valley Junior High, where she worked as the secretary to the principal, made the morning announcements and hand-delivered messages running the halls in heels. She loved the students beyond words – as well as the principals, her office mates and the many teachers she counted among her valued friends.  The district honored her in 2016 by naming her the grand marshal of their Homecoming Parade. She was retired from the district for about 20 minutes or so when she took a job at Lands’ End in Dodgeville. She loved her co-workers, the different duties and being part of that company. She decided to leave at age 85. She never talked about age – and she never let it stop her. A natural athlete who scored a hole-in-one at the Spring Green Municipal Golf Course and bowled with her Greenway Manor neighbors, she often called herself a tomboy who loved all sports – especially just busting loose on a mad-dash run. It was common to hear the nursing staff at Greenway Manor call out: ‘Slow down, Athleen!” as she’d round the corner pulling an aide clutching the safety belt around Athleen’s waist. She’d let go of the Cheshire Cat smile and power on, trying to go just a tad faster. Always sporting a smile, sometimes accompanying a quick one-liner no one saw coming or a gutbucket laugh at a welcomed punchline, Athleen was all about love, laughs and learning – taking night classes to learn the computer and teaching herself the piano. It was like growing up with Lucille Ball. And she never stopped dancing – in the home hallway, the washroom, doing the dishes, at Greenway Manor or wowing the doctors at Sauk-Prairie Hospital in recent years. As a youth, she even danced with a tap troop at the Barrymore Theater in Madison. Athleen never took a day off. The day she broke her shoulder on her daily walk to school she insisted on returning to her desk with her arm in a sling. She balked at a rule which required everyone at a public school to dedicate a set time to read. She relented and brought a Bible. At the dedicated time, Athleen held the Bible high and in front of her face as she paraded back and forth in front of then-Principal Ken Radtke’s door. “What are you doing, Athleen?” he called out. She smiled and said: “I’m studying for my finals.” She passed. Athleen’s family wishes to thank the entire staff of Greenway Manor for their incredible, compassionate care of Athleen and kindness to her family and friends. She lived at Greenway for the last several years of her life. She was so appreciative of the staff and had great fun with her Manor mates. The staff treated her like family right up until the end – and that will never be forgotten. Athleen is survived by her five children, David (JoAnn) Haas of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Anne Dyson of Urbana, Illinois, Mary (Bill) Archer of Watagua, Texas, Ruth (Peter) May of St. Francis, and Joanne Haas (Reed) of Madison; four grandchildren – Brett (Cindy) Christianson Haas; Evan, Elizabeth and Megan Archer; and two great-grandchildren – Katherine and Adam Christianson-Haas. A Mass of Christian will be held Thursday, December 16, 2021, at 11 a.m. at the St. John’s Catholic Church in Spring Green. Fr. Garrett Kau will officiate with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held on Thursday, December 16, 2021, from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Mass. The family asks attendees to consider COVID-19 safety protocols on behalf of all. Instead of flowers, consider a donation in Athleen Haas’ name to dementia research, St. Jude’s or the River Valley School District. Online condolences available at www.staffordfuneralhomes.com. The Richardson-Stafford Funeral Home in Spring Green is assisting the family with the arrangements. Bring your own tap shoes. Online condolences available at www.staffordfuneralhomes.com