Dorothy Mae Wonn was born in Weyerhaeuser Wisconsin in a little log cabin across the street from a tavern on May 30, 1936. She was raised on a small dairy farm of eighty acres just a few miles from where she was born. The farm is located next to the farm her mother Ella Kramer was born and raised on. The road both farms are on is appropriately named, Kramer Road.
She had seven sisters and two brothers. Although, one of her sisters was raised in southern Wisconsin by her dad's brother, Frank Wonn and his wife. She attended Island Lake Elementary School and Weyerhaeuser High School. She graduated from high school in the 1950s. She spent most of her childhood days attending school and doing farm chores. She would tell us stories of surviving minus thirty degree temperatures in the winter and simply making due with a large poor family in a small house in which to live.
Around the age of twenty one she married her first husband, John William Krepp. His parents owned and lived in the tavern across the street from where she was born. He was a widower with two small children, Judy and Sally. She had three children with John; Rick, Jenny and John. In those days, money was tight. Consistent with her upbringing, Dorothy did the best she could with what she had. John worked as a plasterer and builder. Dorothy worked as a dispatcher for the Clarendon Hills Police Department. One October day in 1965 while at work, Dorothy learned of a car crash on Ogden Avenue. Her husband was in that accident. John passed away that morning. She was now a single parent with five children and not much income. But through much self denial, she made things work. She kept the family together. She also made sure John's first wife's parents continued to be part of the family.
In 1969 Dorothy married Wayne Linhart. In 1970, Michael was born, and then there were six. Wayne and Dorothy made a good team for the forty nine years they were married. They fixed up an old houseboat and invested in a few properties, and made some money that way. They were always working or doing something. They even bought an old bread truck and turned it into a camper for the family.
Dorothy always hosted Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinner, filling the house with friends and family. She tirelessly worked for these huge meals she prepared. Christmas was always special. Dorothy was very talented and made crafts. She hosted a Christmas craft bazaar every year as well.
When it came time to retire, Dorothy and Wayne were at it again. They purchased the farm that she grew up on. After much work, planted a thousand or so blueberry bushes and spent the summers farming in Northern Wisconsin. In 2009 tragedy struck again when their youngest son Micheal died. Dorothy, Wayne and the rest of family were devastated. They never quite got over this. In 2018 Wayne passed away, breaking Dorothy's heart permanently. Just a little over two years later, on August 5, 2020, Dorothy passed away in a hospital just a few miles from where she was born and raised.
Dorothy worked hard her whole life. She was a perfect example of the American Dream. She could cook, sew, create and raise children, and do anything she put her mind to. She was loved very much and will be missed.
Dorothy was the loving mother of Sarah “Sally” Gillett, Richard Allen Krepp, Jennifer Lynne (Mark) Hill (nee Krepp), John C. (Betsy) Krepp, and the late Michael Frank (Anne) Linhart; devoted grandmother of Christopher (Bobbie) Gillett, Brian (Renee) Gillett, Karie Gillett, Ryan (Laura) Krepp, Michelle (Andy) Recker, John Krepp, Dan Krepp, Krista Krepp, Andrew Hill, Joey Linhart and Bobby Linhart; cherished great-grandmother of Tyler, Bailey, Victor, Aurora and Natalia Gillett; sister to Irene Trowbridge, Delia McLeod, Annabelle Sieja, Albert Wonn, Hazel Luethi, Marge (Wayne) Kaufman, Linda Nelson.
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