Obituaries

Virginia “June” Bartilson passed away on May 1 at the Dove Assisted Living Apartments at the age of 99. She was born in December of 1926, the first of the five girls born to Asa John Snyder and Mary Leuthold Snyder. She grew up in the Town of Otter Creek in Dunn County and graduated from Colfax High School in 1944. She worked as a bookkeeper for a car dealership in Colfax until she married and started dairy farming. Eventually, her family of 7 built a farm home in the Town of Wheaton in Chippewa County where she spent most of her life. She was a dedicated homemaker and gardener, raising and preserving enough vegetables to last at least two winters each year. In spite of all the work at the house, farm and adjoining forest, she always had time to welcome company with coffee and homemade pie, cake or cookies.

Later in life she took a job at the (then) Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in Eau Claire, starting as a maid and working her way to the post of Executive Housekeeper overseeing the room cleaning, maintenance and laundry staff. After retirement, she enjoyed volunteering at (then) Luther Hospital helping in the mail room and knitting baby caps for newborns. She was invited to join the amazing quilters at Plymouth UCC church in Eau Claire, where she worked with the “stitcherhood” for 30 years to produce over 100 quilts a year for area children, womens’ shelters, and the homeless. She partially completed her last quilt top only a few weeks before passing away.

She is credited with over 4300 hours of volunteer time for the Western Dairyland Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). In 2023, she received the Wisconsin Governor’s Award for over 20 years of volunteer work. In 2024 she was further honored with President Joe Biden’s Lifetime award for volunteer service. She also received Presidential Awards in 2007 under President George W. Bush and in 2009 under President Barack Obama.

June’s faith in Christ carried her through many life difficulties. She was a dedicated member of Truax Congregational United Church of Christ for decades, serving with the Women’s Fellowship.

June was very proud of her Swiss heritage. Her Grandfather Andrew Leuthold came to America in 1905 and earned enough money as a cheesemaker to go back to Switzerland and bring his wife and children to the “New World” in 1906, where they settled near Barneveld, Wisconsin and had a dairy farm.

June is now reunited with her parents, Asa and Mary (Leuthold) Snyder, sisters and brothers-in-law Shirley and Richard Scheidecker, Melva and Donald Mickelson, and Janice and Donald) Dahl, Darrel Flatland, and many beloved Snyder, Weaver, and Leuthold aunts, uncles, and cousins. She is also preceded in death by nephews Douglas Flatland, Joseph Dahl, and niece Beth Flatland Berg, and her former husband Donald Bartilson.

She is survived by her sister Donna (Darrel) Flatland, children Judy (Bill) Vandermeer, of Buckeye, Arizona; Donald and Deb (McManus) of Chippewa Falls; Mary Bartilson of Rochester, Minnesota; Rodney and Annette (Liedl) of Chippewa Falls, and Kathy Bartilson and Kevin Hagen of Spooner. Also survived by her five grandchildren and their families: Bill Vandermeer and Caitlin Donaghy and baby Ira of Evergreen, Colorado; Trevor and Jenny (Berg) Vandermeer and their daughters Olivia Mae and Evelyn June of Vejle, Denmark; Tim and Michelle Bartilson and their daughters Peyton and Ellie; Emily Hagen and Philip Solyntjes and son Leif of Bloomington, Minnesota, and Christopher Hagen and Claudia Husband of Brisbane, Australia. Also her cherished nieces and nephews, Peggy (Scheidecker) Freitag, Sue Scheidecker (Chuck) Kohlepp, Cindy Mickelson (Dean Hamacher), Nick Dahl, and their spouses, children, and grandchildren; and her brother-in-law and sister-in-law Roger and LuAnn Bartilson and theirs sons Jon and Dean and families.

Many thanks to the Dove Healthcare staff of Bloomer, and love always to the Plymouth UCC Church Quilters, past and present, including Dorothy Kruschke, Cate Reiter, Louise Sanders and Rianna, Jakob and Emma Voss.

Services will be held at Truax Congregational United Church of Christ at 1008 50th Street in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Thursday, May 7 at 3 p.m. Visitation will be held at the church before the service starting at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial donations to Truax Congregational United Church of Christ and the Plymouth United Church of Christ Quilters (both churches are in Eau Claire, Wisconsin).

Matthew 25:21 “Well done, thou good and faithful servant:... enter into the joy of the Lord.”