Marilyn (Kultgen) Zefran

    Marilyn (Kultgen) Zefran was a “social butterfly” who loved meeting people, engaging in outdoor activities and traveling, often by herself.
    She passed away in the evening hours of Saturday, July 14, at Anita’s Gardens in Port Washington.  She was 76 years old.  
    Zefran was the daughter of Nicholas Raymond Kultgen and Christine Deppiesse Kultgen Burton. She grew up in Port Washington, graduating from Port Washington High School in 1961.  After high school, she moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she met her husband, Lee Baxter. After Lee was discharged from the Air Force, the couple moved to Mr. Baxter’s home town, Vancouver, Wash.  He preceded her in death in 2001.
    After his death, Marilyn moved back to Wisconsin, but stayed in touch with old friends in Washington, returning each year to Vancouver to visit. She also often traveled to other destinations with friends from Washington and other “girlfriends,” Sherri Kultgen, her niece, said.
    Soon after returning to Wisconsin, she visited an old friend of her mother’s at Beechwood Rest Home in Kewaskum.         There she ran into Dennis Zefran, a childhood friend and the son of the woman she was visiting.
    “They rekindled their friendship and they began volunteering together at Beechwood,” Sherri Kultgen said.
    On May 8, 2004, they married at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in St. Michael’s, Wis. They lived in Campbellsport.
    Places she visited included Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico (multiple times), destinations in the United States and cruises, Kultgen said.
    She also enjoyed continuing to volunteer at Beechwood, gardening, swimming, playing cards and reading.
    She was extremely fond of all her nieces and nephews too, and was known to all of them as “Auntie M,” Kultgen said.
    “She adored all of them. She was one of the most giving people I’ve ever known,” she said.
    She was a member of St. Michael’s Parish, the Catholic Daughters and the Red Hat Society.  
    She is survived by her husband Dennis of Campbellsport, her siblings Raymond (Geraldine) Kultgen and Richard (Susie) Kultgen both of Port Washington, Diane (Harold) Tackes of Waubeka, and brother-in-law Joe Schuessler of Fredonia.
    She is preceded in death by her husband Lee Baxter, half-sister Darlene Burton Schuessler, and her parents.
    A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, 8883 Forest View Road, Kewaskum. Father Neil Zinthefer will preside. She will be buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Port Washington. Visitation will precede the funeral beginning at 11 a.m. at the church.
    In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Michael’s Catholic Church.
    Eernisse Funeral Home is handling funeral arrangements.