Full Obituary

     Rebecca Sue Gutenberger, age 63, passed from this life on Thursday, July 30, 2020 in her daughter’s home, surrounded by family and with her faithful dog, Ruby, by her side. A Celebration of Life is being planned for a future date.
     Becky was born on February 8, 1957 to Jim and Grace (Miller) Gutenberger of Colby. She was the second eldest child of eight and first daughter. She helped raise her siblings so the family could continue the daily activities of farm life. She married Jon Schaefer on June 7, 1974 and Kelly was born a month later. Becky was the first woman allowed back to Colby High School after giving birth, and she graduated with her 1975 class as a mother and wife. Jon and Becky had two more children, Kari & Krystal. The couple later divorced in 1984.
     Becky worked as a Nurse's Aide at St. Joseph's Hospital from 1975 until 1993, at which time she pursued and earned her degree in Associated Science Administrative Assistant - Secretarial from Mid-State Technical College. She then worked as a property manager for low income housing in Marshfield. She loved helping people and understood those who fell on hard times. She served the Marshfield community in this capacity until February 2020.
     Becky’s favorite hobby was sewing. She created countless uniform tops while she was working as an aide, and almost all the clothes she wore throughout her life. She created clothes for her daughters and granddaughter throughout their entire lives up until a few months prior to her passing. She loved to sew and was so excited to see her creations on the person she made them for. If you were lucky enough to have gotten something she sewed, you know she made it with love. On any given Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you would find her sewing with music as loud as possible. She was an avid country music fan as well as earlier rock. Waylon Jennings, George Strait, Garth Brooks and Neil Diamond were among her favorites.
     Becky married John Hasserodt in 2000. John always made mom laugh and they loved talking about movies and music. They divorced in early 2003 and John passed away in August of 2003.
     After John's passing, she befriended Lonnie, a retired law enforcement officer from Baton Rouge, LA, via a chat room for hillbillies. He was married to Susan and they had 3 daughters, similar in age to her own daughters. In 2005, Becky took her first airplane trip to meet Lonnie & Susan and their family. She was introduced to true southern hospitality on this trip and solidified lifelong friendships. Tragically, Lonnie passed away unexpectedly a couple months later but Becky and Susan remained very close friends. Becky flew down to Susan's house every April and Susan flew to Becky's house every fall. Becky and Susan loved to road trip and enjoyed their frequent detours. Rarely did they get where they were going on the first try! Becky was able to get down for a visit this March with Kelly and her kids to visit Susan. There was a brief time at the end of June that Kari and Becky took a final trip to visit her Southern family.
     Becky had a love of animals and enjoyed their companionship throughout her life. We are confident she was greeted at the rainbow bridge by her dogs, Tucker and Pearl (Dylan, Sam, Emmah & Hollie) and cats, Lennie, Brat Cat and Sweetie Pie. Becky had a generous heart and a beautiful kind spirit. She laughed easily and her laugh was infectious. If she was laughing, everyone else was too.
     She will be dearly missed by her daughters: Kelly Schlafke (Matt) of Marshfield, Kari Schaefer of Marshfield, and Krystal Salzmann (Kyle) of Plover; her grandchildren: Weston, Will, & Mattea Schlafke; her mother: Grace Gutenberger of Colby; her siblings: Mike of Colby, Dan (Rhonda) of Colby, Billy of Colby, Carol Bauman (Mark) of Tomahawk, Nancy Gutenberger of Owen, Craig (Anna) of Unity, and Ron of Colby, along with several nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.
She is predeceased by her dad, James Gutenberger and John Hasserodt.
     In lieu of flowers, mom would enjoy donations be given to the Clark County Humane Society in Neillsville, WI.