Mae Isabelle Hemp

Mae Hemp, age 89, passed away peacefully July 28, 2017 at her home in the Town of Pine Valley where she has resided for the last several years with her son Merlin and his wife Christine.Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at the Gesche Funeral Home in Neillsville. Pastor Douglas Bjerke will conduct the service. Family and friends may gather from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. prior to the service at the Gesche Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Neillsville Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her grandsons.Mae Isabelle Bender was born May 25, 1928, in Washburn Township, Clark County, Wisconsin, the second child of David Emanuel Bender and Mabel Isabelle (Broihier) Bender. She was raised on the familys farm, and attended grade school at the Cunningham School. She graduated from Neillsville High School in 1946. On September 10, 1949 she married Marvin Hemp in Dubuque, IA. They resided at their Court St. home in Neillsville raising their boys, and spent summers at their cottage on Lake Arbutus.Mae was a wonderful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved nature and could identify the wildflowers and birds that were abundant in Hatfield and at the Buck Hill property in Sherwood that her parents proudly left to the Bender descendants. She enjoyed the changing seasons of Wisconsin, its forests, lakes and wildlife and liked to go fishing, hunting, and tending to her large vegetable and flower gardens. After moving to the country in her later years, she could enjoy seeing the farm animals and the peacocks and had feeders for many varieties of birds. She always read the daily newspaper and would ride ten miles each day on her stationary bike. Her kind and generous spirit will be lovingly remembered.Surviving are her four sons, Michael (Gitta) Hemp, of Townsend, WI; Mark (Linda) Hemp, Matthew Hemp and Merlin (Christine) Hemp all of Neillsville; her grandchildren, Stefanie (Kevin) Bramwell, Joshua (Melissa) Hemp, Andrew (Abby) Hemp, Shawn Hemp, Jonathan (fianc, Jenna) Hemp, Lucas (Brittney) Hemp; and Max Hemp; step-grandchildren, Jacob Sutton, Sarah (Ben) Nackers and Adam Sutton. She is further survived by seven great-grandchildren and her sisters, June Dudei of Plainfield, WI, and Lorraine Meddaugh of Granton, and her brother David (Beverly) Bender of Arpin, brother-in-law Ralph Dorow of Marshfield, along with many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Marv, her sister Elaine (Johnny) Dorow, brothers-in-law Hilmer (Bud) Dudei and Gordon Meddaugh; her granddaughter, Kailey Jade Hemp, and great-granddaughter, Haddie Alyn Hemp.Memorials may be designated in Maes name to the Neillsville Food Pantry.Online Condolences may be made at www.geschefh.com. The Gesche Funeral Home is assisting Maes family with funeral arrangements.