Kane, Vivian Doretha Mrs. Joseph 1916-2011

KANE, WILTGEN, HARENS

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg (email)
Date: 11/8/2011 at 20:05:30

Vivian Doretha Kane
April 13, 1916. --Oct. 11, 2011
Vivian Doretha (Wiltgen) Kane, 95 passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in her home in Puyallup, Wash.
Per her wishes, there will be no services. She will be cremated, and her final resting place will be in her beloved Alaska.
Vivian was born on April 13, 1916. in Alton to John Peter and Mary (Harens) Wiltgen, the fifth of their seven children.
Her mother and a brother passed away in 1918, during the great flu epidemic. The remaining six children were sent to various relatives and lived with them for two years. They were then all placed in an orphanage for two years until their father remarried. Four more children were added to the family from that second marriage.
She left school after ninth grade and had quite a life of adventure. She worked in housekeeping, retail and joined the WAACs during World War II. She served as a mail clerk in New Guinea and the Philippines and she loved the military life.
In 1946 she moved to Anchorage, Alaska, with her sister and brother-in-law. She fell in love with Alaska and always thereafter considered it her home.
She met and married her husband Joseph Michael Kane of Boston. f~ass., in January of 1951.
Herfirst child Mary Michele was born laterthat year in Alaska in Fort Richardson. In 1952, they were stationed in Pensacola, Fla., where her sons Joseph Michael (1952) and Patrick Allen (1953) were born.
Her son Patrick was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1954 and died in 1955. She and her husband separated a few years after that and she raised her two remaining children as a single mother. She returned to Alaska with her children in June of 1967. Her son Michael was diagnosed with leukemia in 1969 and passed away in 1970. She never truly recovered from losing her sons.
She worked in theflight kitchens for Pacific Northern Airlines and later Western Airlines. She retired in 1988. She spent the following years caring for her sister and granddaughter and enjoying the beauty of Alaska.
In 2004, she moved to Puyallup, Wash., to be with her daughter Mary and granddaughter Rachel Catherine Kane. They cared for her in the last years of her life.
In addition to her beloved sons, Vivian was preceded in death by all of her siblings, Beatrice Mary Lawrence Schrantz (1909-1989), Claire Ann Daly (1911-1973), Lawrence John (1913-1992), Charles Arthur (1914-1989), Milo (1917-1918), Joseph James (1918-1 973),Virgin Mary (1923-1923), Rita Grace
Noltze (1924-2009), Eugene Frances (1926-2009) and Donald Gilbert (1927-1987). She was also preceded by her ex-husband Joseph (1925-2002).
She is survived by her daughter Mary and grand-daughter Rachel. She also has many surviving nieces and nephews. We especially want to thank her niece, Rita Touhy, for all the time she spent with Mom during her years in Puyallup and all that she did to help us out.
She was a wonderful, thoughtful and generous mother and grandmother. We will miss her common sense and great wisdom always. We look forward to being with her again on the other side.
Source: Orange City Capital Democrat of October 20, 2011.