Dorothy Ramsden, age 94, of Oshkosh, died on Saturday, April 3, 2010, at Evergreen Retirement Community. Born on April 5, 1915, at the Happy Hills Home Farm, in the township of Mifflin, Iowa County, Wisconsin, to Alvin H. and Mildred (Winter) Goninen, Dorothy lived a happy and fulfilling life.


She loved growing up on the farm and through 8th grade Dorothy attended Mt. Vernon School, a one-room country school. While attending and graduating from Mineral Point High School, Dorothy met and fell in love with her future husband. A graduate of the rural course at Platteville Normal School in 1935, Dorothy married Raymond Ramsden in Mifflin during the summer of 1936. An excellent homemaker and cook, she also taught at several rural schools in central and southwestern Wisconsin, both full and part-time. Her teaching experiences ranged from being the sole teacher in a one-room country schoolhouse to teaching 5th grade at Spring Road School in Neenah. Later, Dorothy was employed as a medical school librarian at Ohio State University, while Ray obtained his PhD in Philosophy, and finished her work career as a nursing assistant in pediatrics at Mercy Hospital in Oshkosh.


During WWII while Ray served as a naval officer aboard an aircraft carrier, Dorothy moved back to the farm where her two children were born. Upon his safe return in 1945, the family moved to Oshkosh where Ray joined the faculty of Oshkosh State Teachers College. Dorothy enjoyed and was very involved in the academic social life, including membership in the Faculty Dames organization, which she served as President in 1955. She participated in many activities and projects with them throughout the years. Dorothy enjoyed entertaining their many friends and hosted many "coffees, teas, buffets, and card groups."


In 1979, upon her husband's retirement, they moved to Coburg, Oregon, where they lived and gardened for ten happy years, before moving back to Oshkosh for the remainder of their loves. Dorothy and Ray took this opportunity to travel internationally and visited many family members and friends.


Throughout her life, Dorothy was a passionate and avid flower gardener. She specialized in daylilies and was a hybridizer and judge. Activate in several local, state, and national flower organizations, Dorothy served as an officer or director on many occasions. Locally she was a member of Oshkosh Garden Club and Oshkosh Horticultural Society, where she gave numerous programs, hosted many meetings, participated in many community organization projects, and won many ribbons and awards for her service, flowers, and arrangements.


Left to mourn her passing are two children, Virginia Koch of Oshkosh, and Les (Eileen) Ramsden of Seattle, Washington; five grandchildren, Cheryl (Jim) Mitchell of Chicago, Illinois, Amy (Randy) Hoitink of Omro, Carolyn, Raymond, and Jeffrey Ramsden, all of Seattle, Washington; and three great-grandchildren, Christine and Olivia Mitchell, and Holly Hoitink. Preceding Dorothy in death are her beloved husband, Raymond, her parents, a brother, Alvin Goninen Jr., and a great granddaughter, Hope Mitchell.


A memorial service for both Dorothy and Raymond will be held on April 17, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. in Gorgen Funeral Home, 310 Ridge Street, Mineral Point, Wisconsin, with burial in Mifflin Cemetery. Seefeld Family of Funeral Chapels in Oshkosh and Gorgen Funeral Home in Mineral Point, Wisconsin are helping with family funeral arrangements. Please visit www.seefeldfuneral.com to send online condolences to the family.


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