Virginia Keefe Nolan

Virginia Keefe Nolan, 99, of Bradenton Florida and Oshkosh died Sunday December 16, 2012 at her Wisconsin home in Evergreen Village. She was the daughter of Attorney Frank B. Keefe, a member of Congress for 12 years, and Mildred Virginia Steele Keefe. Mrs. Nolan was born in Omro, WI on August 8, 1913 and moved to Oshkosh when she was six months old. Mrs. Nolan attended the University of Wisconsin Law School after attending Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh (WSU-O) and Carleton College in Northfield, MN, but left law school before graduation, when she married Charles F. Nolan, a graduate of Georgetown Law School. They were married over 60 years when Charles died in 1996. The Nolans moved to Bradenton, Florida in the 1980s. Mrs. Nolan was the first woman elected to the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors and served eleven terms (22 years). She was a member of the Taxation Committee (three years as Secretary), Judiciary Committee (Vice Chairman for four years), Chairman of the Special Building Committee to erect the new Pleasant Acres Skilled Nursing Home, Chairman of the Institutions Committee (eight years) and of the Admittance Board for County Institutions, Sunnyview TB Hospital, Park View Mental Hospital and Pleasant Acres Health Center, Secretary for a number of years of the Personnel Committee, Vice Chairman of the Health Committee, Chairman of the Labor Relations Committee, Secretary of Social Services, Day Care Board and Executive Committee of ADVOCAP, Inc., as County Board representative, and on the subcommittee that established nutrition centers for the elderly. Mrs. Nolan was appointed to serve on Region V, Health Advisory Board by President Richard Nixon and the Secretary of H. E. W., Elliot Richardson. Meetings were held in Chicago and the jurisdiction included Federal funds and grants for Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. Mrs. Nolan was co-founder of the Winnebago County Easter Seal Society and the establishment of the Mercy Hospital Rehabilitation Center; Charter Member and Past President of the Curative Workshop; Volunteer Secretary of the Winnebago County Red Cross Chapter; Vice President and President of the Citizens Advisory Council; Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh; Membership Chairman and on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Wives of Wisconsin; member of the council, Winnebagoland Council Camp Fire Girls; Daughters of the American Colonists in Oshkosh and Florida; served as Co-Chairman of the Community Chest and United Fund Drives; member of the valuation teams for all agencies and a member of the Community Council Committee on Education; Co-Chairman of the Steiger Addition Residential Drive of the Oshkosh Museum; member of the Kellett Commission for the Advancement of Higher Education in Wisconsin and served on the Board of the Lutheran Homes of Oshkosh for several years during their expansion period. She served the American Legion Auxiliary as membership chairman, Americanism chairman, child welfare chairman and was Vice-President of the Winnebago County Patriotic Council. She was a Director and Vice President of Lake View Memorial Park for many years. She was also a member of the Oshkosh Council of Catholic Women and the Twentieth Century Club. A lifelong Republican, she was a Past President of the Winnebago County Federation of Republican Women and served as Sixth Congressional District Secretary. She was also a member of the Platform, Resolutions and Rules Committees at various Republican state conventions, and was a member of the Winnebago County Republican Executive Committee. She also served as board member of the Wisconsin Federation of Republican Women and was a member of the Manatee County and Sara Bay Republican Women Clubs. Mrs. Nolan was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church (Oshkosh) and served as secretary of the Home and School Association. Mrs. Nolan had also been President of the Oshkosh Council of Catholic Women, and held most offices in the Wisconsin Council of Catholic Women. Mrs. Nolan was a member of Saint Joseph Church in Bradenton and the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Oshkosh. Although not a member of the Wisconsin Catholic War Veterans, Mrs. Nolan was selected Wisconsin Woman of the Year in 1965 by that organization on the basis of her civic achievements. Mrs. Nolan traveled extensively with her late husband, Attorney Charles F. Nolan, when he served as the Wisconsin State Bar Association Representative to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. Meetings were held in England, Canada, Hawaii, and many other American States. They also traveled to Rome for a meeting arranged by the Pope prior to Mr. Nolans investiture as a Knight of Saint Gregory by Pope Paul VI. Mrs. Nolan has three children: Charles Gregory Nolan (wife-Eileen), Michael Keefe Nolan (wife-Enid), and Virginia Clare Nolan; and two grandchildren: Patrick Gregory Nolan (wife-Dr. Marie Therese) and Diana Clare Nolan. A funeral service for Mrs. Nolan will be held Wednesday December 19, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at Most Blessed Sacrament-St. Peter Church, Father James Jugenheimer officiating. Visitation will be held Wednesday at the church from 9:00 a.m. until the service. Burial will be in Lake View Memorial Park. Memorials are being established to the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish and the Oshkosh Area Humane Society in memory of Virginia.

Most Blessed Sacrament- St Peter site



435 High Ave.
Oshkosh
WI
54901

Wednesday, December 19, 2012
9 - 11 a.m.



Most Blessed Sacrament- St Peter site



435 High Ave.
Oshkosh
WI
54901

Wednesday, December 19, 2012
11:00 a.m.



Lake View Memorial Park



2786 Algoma Blvd
Oshkosh
WI
54901