Frances L. Neperud, 84, passed away at home on Nov 28, 2013. She was born Sept 27, 1929 in Amity, OR to John and Emma (Kuenzi) Zahler. She grew up in Oregon, the youngest of 7 children. She met Ronald in high school and they married in Silverton in 1950. They both worked in the Willamette valley; rich with hops and fruit. They raised a family of five Nancy (Mojie) in Iran, David (Brenda) in Verona, Mark in Belleville, Alyce (Rick) in South St. Paul, MN, and Robert in Madison. The family moved to WI in 1967. While Ronald was the professor and artist, Frances was the financial manager and ran household operations. She made do with little and everything was from scratch; braided rugs, knit socks, bread, caramel rolls, pies, cookies, pizza, she did it all. It is no wonder her family loves baked goods and sweets. Ronald and Frances farmed as a hobby in WI; cows, flowers, vegetables, fruit and more. Frances canned produce, and sold fruit and jam at the market. She loved growing flowers of all kinds, even on recent visits to the nursery she wanted to get a little bit of everything. She saved seeds, bulbs and plants from year to year; geraniums, zinnias, dahlias, iris. WI was her home but she loved annual summer vacations to Oregon and west coast family reunions. A trip to the coast was not complete without caramel corn, taffy and fresh crab. Frances read like crazy to the end; reading local and world news daily. She had compassion for others, and cared about what was happening all around the world. She was a wonderful caretaker of those in her life and will be greatly missed. She was steadfastly determined to live at her Sugar River Pastures home and had many loving caretakers late in life that enabled her to continue to do so, for which her family is very grateful. She was preceded in death by husband Ronald; brothers Mel and Art; and granddaughter Leslie Frances. She is survived by all her children; her siblings Ed, Barbara, Naomi, and Ruth; and grandchildren Brie Ann, Drew, Lindsey, Megan and Arash. She will also be missed by her kitties Callie, Dottie & MrBoots. A memorial service celebrating the life of Frances will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at the Becker-Beal Funeral Home, 109 Greenway Cross, Belleville, WI. A gathering of relatives and friends will precede the memorial service from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at the Becker-Beal Funeral Home in Belleville. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested.
