Betty Thomae

July 26, 1938 — April 14, 2025

Betty Marie (nee Fischer) Thomae, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, musician, gifted teacher, accomplished pianist and organist, creative quilter, who contributed to her community in many ways. Betty was a diminutive person physically, but few people had a bigger impact on our lives than she did. She learned to play piano and organ as a child and was playing for her church choir at age 11 in Antigo, Wisconsin. She had wonderful memories of playing in her high school marching band (clarinet) at Packer games in the 1950s, which led to a lifetime love of the Packers and almost all sports. After she met the love of her life, Harry, they wed in 1959 and began life together in Milwaukee. They soon started their family, Doug, Kathy, Joe, Barb and beloved Ellen. While parenting five children she began teaching dozens of students weekly in the 1960s. Over the years she had thousands of students in her personal teaching studio, she played accompaniment for hundreds of grade and high school musicians at solo-ensemble, and by her actions, helped to nurture a love of music and performing for so many people. She was the principal pianist and organist at St. James Church in Mequon for over 30 years and started the St James choir in the old church basement in the 1970s. She played in church for hundreds of funerals and weddings. When we think about the compounded effect through her teaching and sharing of her gift of music for over five decades, her spirit lives on in many people which continues to ripple outward in the world. This legacy of love continued as she became a grandmother, helping raise five fantastic grandchildren, Kyle, Andrew, Alexandra, Brian and Jake, and one step-grandchild, Ryan and her two great grandchildren, Mateo and Danny. Betty will be greatly missed by her daughters-in-law Dawn and Sally and her granddaughters-in-law Amanda and Ashli. Betty loved and was loved by her parents Frank and Erma, and her siblings Pat (Robinson), Marge (Mireski), and Bob Fischer and many nieces and nephews who remember her fondly. Betty was the glue that held our family together, the matriarch that cooked and hosted many holiday celebrations, including truly memorable Christmas Eves when the kids were younger. She encouraged us, guided us, and inspired us as children and then adults. In her last days, she sat with her great grandson Mateo at her electric piano and showed him how to touch the keys. That piano now belongs to Teo and his brother Danny, rippling outward one more time. Her positive impact cannot be understated nor will it ever be forgotten. Visitation Friday, April 18, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Schramka-Densow Funeral Home, 423 N. Main St., Thiensville, with a Funeral Service at 12:30 PM. Interment to follow at Lumen Christi Cemetery in Mequon.

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