Charlotte J. Kaems

Charlotte Joan Kaems, age 89, of Port Washington, formerly of Sheboygan, passed away Saturday, July 6, 2019, at Harbor Campus.

Born Feburary 7, 1930, in Sheboygan, Char was the daughter of Arthur C. and Emma (Reich) Kaems. She attended local schools and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1952. Char’s photographic memory and high intelligence served her well. Her college major was in Hispanic Studies, but her natural ability with language allowed her to work readily with all the Romance languages. Her employers with international business considered her a valuable asset.

Char’s love for language was also seen in the steady flow of poetry she has written over the decades. She was already recognized in her teens as a fine poet. Her poetic ideas were expressed humorously or eloquently. Most recently, her favorite form was the short haiku: she took delight in discovering what she could say poetically in three lines.

But apart from her linguistic and poetic genius, what drew most people to Char was her loving outreach. She had an instinctive and kindly awareness of other people and knew how to include them in conversation, how to discover and appreciate their talents, how to make them comfortable. She was sensitive to other people’s sadness, shyness, needs. She showed a love for and joy in children and she was especially popular with her nephews and their families. She was also a prolific writer of personal letters. Friendship, for Char, was not a short-term experience; it meant a lifetime of sharing. She has had pen pals since her youth, and they remained in regular contact for decades. As a result, Char has a multitude of friends, in several countries. Only in recent months has she been heard to say “I have to cut back; I can’t do all this anymore.” That signaled a major downturn in Char’s energy.

Beginning in 1961, Char was a dedicated School Sister of Notre Dame for 12 years; of those, eight were spent as a teaching Sister on the Island of Guam. Eventually she was placed in an administrative position, but her love was always for teaching children. Char left the SSND community in 1973, returning to Sheboygan. For the next 20 years she continued her love of teaching children in Sheboygan’s Middle Schools.

Char had grown up as a devout Missouri Synod Lutheran and shocked her family when she embraced Catholicism. That change came about because she saw the opportunity to become a member of a religious teaching order, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and that dedication drew her soul. In the end, she moved beyond the Catholic understanding of God, growing into a new spiritual awareness, and realizing that she was, indeed, entirely be-loved. She dedicated herself to returning that love completely, and in her last years referred to the divine person with the name: Belovéd.

After retirement Char remained in Sheboygan. In 2005, she moved into St. Nicholas Apartments for seniors on Huron Avenue. Immediately she developed a new community of friends and lived there happily until one year ago when her need for physical care increased. She moved to Harbor Campus in Port Washington, where she developed new friendships with residents and staff. One artistic staff member found a way to combine Char’s poetry with her own photographic art and they made posters to display in the facility. Char’s poetry was admired and it was read aloud at some of the facility’s social events. Char was working with the staff on plans for her to lead a poetry-writing class.

Char remained in relatively good health, with a positive outlook and good energy, up until the last day. She died peacefully in her sleep. When someone came to wake her, she was found to have quietly moved on to her greater reward.

Char is survived by her nephews, Frederic (Mary), John (Nancy), and Michael (Cindi Gartman); her great nieces Margaret and Kelly; her great nephew Frederic (Carolyn) and special great-great niece, Violet.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Howard and Arthur; sisters-in-law Jeanne, Ruth and Dottie; and her great nephew Theodore.

The family wants to thank Harbor Campus for their joyful and loving care of Char over this past year; and they especially want to thank Bonnie Brown who has been her primary caregiver and dear friend for several years.

In accordance with Charlotte’s wishes, there will be no services.

The Olson Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Sheboygan has been entrusted with Charlotte’s arrangements.