Ramona Jean Clift
MADISON/MIDDLETON–Ramona Jean Clift, 98, passed away on Oct. 16, 2022, at Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg.
She was born on Jan. 17, 1924, to Zelpha Mabel (Williams) Gochenaur and her husband Abner Z. Gochenaur, on their farm in the Township of Forest, near Viola.
She graduated from Viola High School in 1941 and attended Madison Business College. Later, she would marry Viola native Richard D. Clift in Richland Center on Feb. 2, 1943. They spent the next few years living and traveling in North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC, where she worked for the Selective Service and the Internal Revenue Service while Richard "Dick" served in the US Army.
In 1948, they settled in the Carpenter-Ridgeway neighborhood on the east side of Madison and became the proud parents of two daughters. Alongside caring for them, Ramona was employed at the State Medical Society and Manchester's Department Store in Madison. She stayed busy as an active member of the First United Methodist Church, and also enjoyed spending time with family and friends, traveling, and working on sewing projects. A favorite sewing project for Ramona was making stuffed bears that now belong to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In retirement years, she and Dick resided at the Heritage Senior Assisted Living community at 6234 Maywood Ave. in Middleton.
Ramona is survived by her two children, Catherine (Arthur) Bostwick of Saukville, and Mary (Peter) Hans of Shorewood Hills; as well as very special grandchildren, Beth and Ryan Hurtado, and Laura and Joel Hans; and five beloved great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Jackson and Colin Hurtado, and Mabel and Ida Hans.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 71 years, Dick (March 22, 2014); her cherished parents, Abner and Zelpha Gochenaur; and all of her siblings, Perlie Gale, Beryl "Shorty", Eva, Vernon, Garland, Truman, Glee, Burdell, Arleus, Lorraine, and Marcel "Bill" Gochenaur; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law Henry and Fern (Storer) Clift.
A visitation for family of Ramona was held just prior to the funeral services at the Gunderson Funeral Home, 7435 University Avenue in Middleton, at 11 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2022. Interment followed at Roselawn Memorial Park in Madison. Special thanks to good friends Lorene and Dave Wendricks, and mourners may wish to send any memorials to Agrace HospiceCare or First United Methodist Church.
