Message: We are honored to provide this Book of Memories to the family.

Message: On behalf of the Feierstein family children, we would like to thank all of you for being here to celebrate the life of our mother, Kathleen Margaret Nevins Feierstein. Just 6 months ago her children and many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren were here at Mother of Good Counsel to celebrate Easter and her 90th birthday. Today, we celebrate her birth to eternal life. I am Clare Feierstein Gilmore and I am Cathy Feierstein, two of the 11 children of William and Kathleen Feierstein. We, of course, think of Mom as Mom! But we’ve been blessed to get to know better what a fascinating person she was, what shaped her, and ultimately what was most important and dear to her. And that’s what we want to share with you today. Kathleen was the third child of Adele and Raymond Nevins. She was the loving sister of Raymond and Marian. She had a number of aunts, uncles and cousins who were close to her – some right next door - growing up in West Allis. She was a loving and proud aunt and delighted in hearing from her nieces and nephews. She formed many lifelong friendships, some starting in grade school, others in high school and even more in college. She loved attending reunions of Mercy High School and Marquette University, schools that kindled her passion for learning. When mom was 21, she suddenly lost her father and thought her world had ended. But she told us time and time again that she came to realize how deeply blessed she was as God – over the course of her entire life – would give her a husband, children, and grandchildren to love. Mom continued her studies, and it was at Marquette that she started another lifelong passion – William Feierstein! She became his wife and as she always said, “She married the best husband in the world.” Over the next 15 years, Mom became Mother to 11 children. Then, when Mom was only 49, our father died suddenly. Mom became the sole parent of 11 children, with 9 children still living at home. It was an incredibly daunting challenge – one that we cannot fully understand - but she met it with faith and grace. With the help of her dear mother, her family and friends and foremost her faith, she saw us all through those difficult times. And then something wonderful happened... God gave her a grandchild to love, Henry, and then another and another and another until she had 18 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren (with one more on the way!). It was faith that opened her to the wonder of this love, even when that love brought pain or loss. Faith has always been her rock and her strength. It was her faith and her boundless willingness to trust in God that brought her – and all of us through and kept us together as this family continues to grow. Tiny as she was, over the years, Mom did an almost unimaginable amount of work raising 11 children. And, with all that work, she sometimes worried that she wasn’t able to spend enough time with us. But each of us cherish memories of Mom doing just that … playing the piano as we sang, reading to us, playing trivial pursuit or scrabble, watching the Packers and Miss Marple, taking walks and sharing wonderful vacations, playing Jacks, taking us on Wednesday afternoon outings to Lake Beulah with the Reitz’s and on and on and on… Whether it was ‘working’ or ‘playing,’ Mom really stayed young at heart. She had an amazing and brilliant sense of humor, fueled by her quick intellect and curiosity, which she eagerly shared with friends and family. Anyone who ever played Trivial Pursuit with Mom would really know how eagerly she shared all that knowledge! She truly was the smartest person I have ever known. Whether it was science, music, art, literature, politics – anything - she loved to read and she loved to learn. She was the best of teachers, not ‘telling’ but gently guiding others on the path of discovery. She was an exceptionally thoughtful and deeply spiritual person and as her hospice caregivers described it “she was just so interesting to talk to!” Even though her life was not an easy one, Mom chose to see her life as wonderful. And, her wonderful, humorous outlook really helped! Just a few weeks ago, after struggling with her walker and collapsing on the couch, she exclaimed “Gosh – I feel like I am 90 years old!’ And then broke into a belly laugh as we admitted that she in fact was MORE than 90 years old! On Tuesday morning, after her breakfast and shower, Mom’s heart finally said, “Kathleen, that’s enough! Your work is done.” “You’ve changed and washed a mountain of diapers, cooked a million meals, baked a billion Christmas cookies, packed a zillion lunches and nursed sick children through measles, mumps, chicken pox the common cold and yes, stomach flu. You tried your best to keep up with that handsome, social husband of yours, going to and giving dinner parties, the symphony, the theatre, the opera. It’s time for a rest!” The last 6 months were a challenge and mom turned, as always to her faith. These months were also a great blessing for her and for us. It brought us ever closer to her and each other and God as we cared for her and spent precious time with her. In pain or laughter or in exasperation at our loving but sometimes bumbling ministrations, it was always mom who led us through this journey with her faith and love. As with so many lessons Mom taught us, her example helped us to be open to and thankful for the special blessings of these last months. We are especially thankful to the wonderful caregivers from Wheaton Franciscan Home Hospice - Caitlin, Shanell, Jaime, Liz, Ellen, Michelle and many other capable and compassionate angels who helped make sure Mom had the best quality life possible. Words can never adequately express our gratitude to you for your care! 
 As we said earlier, it was Mom’s Catholic Faith that sustained her through the ups and downs of her wonderful life. She was so happy to be part of the faith community here at Mother of Good Counsel. She came to this parish as a young widow and you became her church home, her church family. She frequently talked about the wonderful pastoral staff, her Rosary group, the beautiful choir, the fulfilling liturgies and the school. Thank you all for your support and fellowship. And so we are grateful, grateful and joyful in thanking God for the gift of our dear mother - for her faith and love and determination - for the wonderful life she shared with us all. We love you Mom and we are ready to return you to God and to eternal life…

Message: For my grandma, who I have always said "is an angel" (I think my mom is too - it might be genetic!) There is no shortage of thoughts dancing in my mind about you this past week. And they are all good. Thoughts that fill up like the boxes that hold years of birthday and Christmas cards; some humorous, some thoughtful - all of them sincere saying to me (without saying it of course) "I am thinking of you and I love you." Sophia and Malachy have also filled up a box, and their combined age is only 5 and 1/2! Amidst these thoughts I am briefly stuck on something - something that can be summed up quite well by the question you posed the last time I visited you, "what does it all mean?" Well obviously I haven't figured any of that out at all yet, but I am at ease knowing that you now have. Having some Feierstein-esque type A personality issues, I have been trying to create some sort of schema or hierarchy of these thoughts, to parse them apart - codify them into some operational meaning. When I grasp at it I am overwhelmed by a fairly singular notion, that family is love and love is everything. That I do not have to succumb to the minutia of daily life that tries to distract from this very simple, very profound truth. As I have grown older and reflect now on my many memories of you I am deeply grateful for the role you have played in growing and fostering the great gift which is my family. It has sprouted almost all, if not all, of the good in my life. And I am so grateful that you taught all of us through your consistency of character and actions about the importance of loving and shepherding ones family- not as a duty or a burden, but as a gift. As I recently told a friend of mine, my Grandma was a "limited edition human." The kind who curls up in the corner of your heart and takes up residence. The steady source of the warmth and comfort, that is hidden in places we cannot access or name or understand. The calm you feel when the baby you are rocking has drifted to sleep, and the faint recollection of all of the times you have been rocked and loved. That good feeling is deep in my bones and I will never shake it. I always love you, I will always miss you, and I will always be glad knowing you are home.

Message: Love you Grandma.

Message: You will always be in my heart. I feel so blessed to have had you as my Grandma.

Message: Dearest mom, because I hardly knew Pop, I always looked to you as the "founder", the glue that held our family together. But this was one special glue- not that sticky white stuff! No, this glue was made of love and devotion, and steadfast faith. You may be gone, but the glue remains in the form of countless memories and in love multiplied ever more greatly as our family grows. I love you!

Message: My earliest memory of grandma was at our old house in West Allis. Grandma was babysitting me and I was supposed to take a nap in mom's bed, only I hid in the closet to play and fell asleep in there. She came to check on me and saw an open window and an empty bed. Poor grandma, lol. She started calling my name and checked the closet, almost touching me, "Reese, Reese" and I sneaked back further into the closet to hide. What I didn't realize is I was scaring her half to death and she thought I was kidnapped! The next thing I know walk into the living room half asleep still and Betty, and several other family members were there. I felt bad later on when I realized what I had done, but at the time it was innocent and I liked seeing my aunts and uncles during the daytime, it felt like a party just for me :) Not long after, I found out grandma's had first names too in my first "foot in mouth" experience...she asked me what my middle name was, I hesitated telling her "I don't really like it," but she insisted..."Kathleen," I said. She smiled and said "well that's not such a bad name, it's my name you know." 😮 lol. I too remember her telling stories of beheading sparrows, her days a nursing assistant and what life used to be like in Milwaukee. I remember when I went to her house to pick up the blue chair and she said "you may have to swear at it a bit (the door), it sticks, just yell 'egad' and 'drats'," lol. Over the past year as I'd visit she'd often comment about how "you must get sick of old people," referring to visiting her and working in hospice, and I'd have to reassure her it's actually a joy for me and we'd laugh (and it was a joy). Then last month with Kyla and Josh,, a day we'll never forget; after everyone arrived and I was leaving she gave me a big hug and said "I love you and you're a good girl Reese." The last time I saw her, aside from yesterday, she was laughing and giggling like a little girl watching some old favorite TV series. I expect many more memories to come, which I will treasure forever. There's only room for one "mugga" in a girls life.

Message: Looking forward to seeing the sparkle in your eyes again one day. I love you Mom.

Message: Love my mom!

Message: Your family is in our thoughts and prayers.