Sharon M. (Ruetten) Norlander

Sharon Marie Norlander (nee Ruetten), 71, of the Town of Addison, went home to her Lord and Savior on Thursday, August 1, 2024, at The Auberge at Oak Village in Menomonee Falls, WI after an 8+ year battle with aphasia and fronto-temporal dementia.

She was born on September 24, 1952, to the late Thomas and Marion Ruetten in Wonewoc, WI. Sharon attended St. Peter Church and School in Slinger and later graduated from Slinger High School. On September 26, 1970, she was united in marriage to Mark Norlander at St. Peter Catholic Church in Slinger, WI. She then worked and retired from Slinger Schools after 38 years, last working in the high school library for many of those years.

Sharon had a strong Christian faith, living her life reflecting the fruit of the Spirit to everyone in her life. For 40+years, she was an active member of Elmbrook Church (Waukesha, WI) and later at Northbrook Church (Richfield, WI).

Family has given Sharon so much joy and purpose in life whether it was providing extensive caregiving to her Grandma Riesmeyer, loving her husband (of 54 years) Mark, or raising and becoming so very proud of their daughter Lisa. When Lisa and husband Peter brought grandchildren Emma and Isaac into the family, Sharon relished her role as grandma and Chief Babysitter. She was able to see Emma marry Matt but missed getting to know her great-grandson Jordan and Emma’s soon-to-be second child.

After family, Sharon always loved spending time immersed with friends, whether it was softball league (way back when), bowling and volleyball leagues, houseboat trips and campfires with the neighbors who (after 40+ years) are loved as family, playing golf, and fishing and cocktail cruises with friends in Lac du Flambeau and Eagle River. She also loved her friends, the Library Ladies, and the Silver Lake (Country Inn) Ladies, very exclusive clubs that were just excuses to go out to eat and hang out together. She also had a green thumb, creating for years beautiful wildflower and prairie grass gardens in their yard, but those skills ended in the yard; she couldn’t grow/keep a houseplant no matter the effort.

Sharon will be sorely missed by those who loved her, but we take solace in the fact that she has gone to the place God has prepared for her. We are grateful to God for the time he has loaned her to us, and we are looking forward to that time we’ll be reunited forever with a Sharon of clear mind and restored abilities.

Those Sharon leaves behind to cherish her memory include her loving husband, Mark Norlander; her daughter, Lisa (Peter) Hurth; two grandchildren, Emma (Matt) Elliott and Isaac Hurth; great-grandson, Jordan James Elliott plus one on the way; a brother, Chuck (Janice) Ruetten; sister-in-law, Cyndi Ruetten; nieces, nephews; other relatives and friends.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her brother, Tom Ruetten and her father and mother-in-law, Glen and Jean Norlander.

VISITATION: A remembrance visitation of Sharon will be on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service, 1315 W. Washington St., West Bend.

A private family gathering and inurnment of Sharon’s ashes will take place at Washington County Memorial Park in West Bend, WI at a later date.

Memorials: Sharon had a special place in her heart for orphan children. She and Mark were friends with a missionary couple who created an orphanage in Kaliningrad, Russia and have supported them since before the fall of the Soviet Union. Please consider a memorial to: Change30.org .

The family would like to thank the staff at The Auberge, especially friend-for-life Tiana Stanton, and the folks at Lily Hospice for the 8 months of additional care and attention they provided to Sharon.

Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with Sharon’s arrangements. Additional information and Tribute Wall may be found at www.myrhum-patten.com.