Thomas Querin

COTTAGE GROVE/SPENCER- Thomas C. Querin, age 81, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011. Born in Ohio, raised in Scranton, Pa., he was the only child of Charles and Dorothy Querin. He joined the U.S. Navy after high school and while stationed in California, met Mary Lou Wallick. Tom was a radar man during the Korean War and enjoyed his visits to Japan while on leave. Less than a week after his discharge he married Mary Lou in Pasadena, Calif., April 1953. On the GI bill, he attended technical college in Klamath Falls, Ore. and trained as a gunsmith. Tom and Mary Lou started their family in Calif., and in 1964 moved to central Wisconsin, where Tom worked as a gunsmith and a maintenance man. In 2007, they moved to Cottage Grove to be closer to family when Tom’s Alzheimer’s became advanced. Tom was an avid reader and proud of his U.S. military history collection. All of his life he loved his pet cats and even in his final days kept his stuffed kitties close by. He is survived by his wife of more than 58 years, Mary Lou; children, Martha (Steve) Querin-Schultz; Cottage Grove, and Christopher (fiancée, Wendy Carter) Querin; Lower Lake, Calif.; sisters-in-law, Margaret (Harold) Kramer and Susan (Bill) Olson; many nieces, nephews and cousins. A Celebration of Life will be held at TAYLOR RIDGE APARTMENTS-COMMUNITY ROOM, 510 Westlawn Dr., Cottage Grove, from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Alliance of Wisconsin, 517 North Segoe Road, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53705. A special thank you to the caring staff at St. Mary’s Memory Care Center. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Alliance of Wisconsin, 517 North Segoe Road, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53705. A Celebration of Life will be held at TAYLOR RIDGE APARTMENTS-COMMUNITY ROOM, 510 Westlawn Dr., Cottage Grove, from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011.