Kathleen Ann Viereg

She was the only child of Donald (Don) Viereg and Rita Johnson, and spent her childhood in Madison, being doted on by Rita and dear family friends Bob and Clara Reick. She enjoyed summers spent with her grandmother Eleanor in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin along the banks of the Mississippi River.

She graduated as salutatorian from East High School in Madison in 1967. Always wanting to accomplish as much as she could as quickly as possible, she completed college in three years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 with a BS in zoology. She then achieved her dream of becoming a doctor, graduating from UW-Madison Medical School in 1974. Kathy loved UW and was a proud Badger for life.

Kathy met Robert (Bob) Ljungquist, of Worcester, MA, when they were both medical residents; she in family medicine, he in anesthesiology. They married in 1975 in Cheshire, CT and built their home there. At their wedding, Kathy deliberately tossed the bouquet to her mother, who had separated from Don when Kathy was small. Weeks later, Rita was contacted by Joseph (Joe) Hannon, who she had known as a young woman before they were separated by World War II. Within the year, Joe and Rita were married, and lived happily in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Kathy, who had always wanted brothers and sisters growing up, got the gift of five of them as a young woman, when Joe’s close-knit group of children from his first marriage warmly invited Kathy in as their big sister. Kathy and her own three children looked forward to visiting Rita, Joe, and the cousins every summer; barbecuing and swimming at Sunset Lake.

Kathy opened her own medical practice in the town of Cheshire, CT and served as a devoted family doctor there for 40 years. She loved her work and her community deeply. She volunteered on many medical missions to the Dominican Republic with Health Horizons International, helped educate medical students from the University of Connecticut as a Clinical Assistant Professor, and served as the president of the Connecticut Academy of Family Physicians.

With her characteristic boundless energy and love for life, Kathy enjoyed cycling, traveling, knitting, skiing, baking, reading, putting on magical Christmases for her family, UConn basketball, cherry pie, a glass of red wine, and caring for her silly, sweet adopted dogs. She was an ambitious gardener and even won a town beautification award for the improvements to her home on Lanyon Drive.

Kathy’s love affair with travel began with her first trip abroad, to former Czechoslovakia, during her last year of medical school. As newlyweds, Kathy and Bob explored Norway, Sweden, and Ireland to visit their ancestral homes. With her lifelong friend Jane, she took bicycling trips to Ireland and many throughout the US. She took several international trips with her daughter Karin; going to Spain twice to visit a former exchange student and his family (Kathy being Kathy, she taught herself Spanish for these trips), to Prague to see Karin speak at a conference, and to France and Greece for spectacular cycling trips. She took her three children all over the US on summer vacation trips, most notably on a sprawling tour of the American West, including the Black Hills, a memorable stay at Elk Mountain dude ranch in Colorado, Yellowstone and Mesa Verde National Parks, and San Francisco. Wanting to show her kids the mighty Mississippi, she and Bob took them on a houseboat journey down the river.

She is survived by Bob (Bantam, Connecticut), her beloved children, Karin, Eric (both Portland, Oregon) and Karl (Los Angeles, California), her grandchildren Vivian, Grant, and Leif, her siblings Tim, Maureen, Kevin, Nora, and Stephen, and her treasured lifelong friends. May her memory be a blessing to all who knew her.

There will be a celebration of life ceremony to honor Kathy on Saturday, June 27th at 2 PM in Cheshire, CT at the First Congregational Church, where she and Bob were married. In lieu of flowers, donations in Kathy’s name may be made to the following organizations:

Kathleen Viereg Memorial Scholarship Fund in Family Medicine

supportuw.org/giveto/Viereg

The American Civil Liberties Union

https://action.aclu.org/give/now

National Public Radio

https://www.npr.org/stations/