Alan C Pope

RICHLAND CENTER - Alan Curtis “Al” Pope, age 81, of Richland Center, Wis., passed away on November 27, 2025.  Al was born on November 26, 1944, in Monroe, Wis., the son of Emory C. and Beatrice H. (Jeglum) Pope. In 1979, Al met the love of his life, Sonja (Sonie Mae) Noble. They were married in June of 1987, and Al took on the permanent role as father of Sonja’s two children and later, the role of grandfather.  

Al graduated in 1962 from Blanchardville High School and served in the Wisconsin National Guard from 1961 to 1967.  He worked for his father’s logging company beginning at the age of 17. In 1966, Al moved to Belvidere, Ill., and worked in the body shop at the Chrysler Corporation plant, retiring after 44 years as a Team Leader in January of 2010.  However, Al’s favorite career was farming, and he raised beef cattle and grew and harvested various crops for 19 years on a farm in Primrose, Wis., and then, beginning in 2010, on the farm he and Sonja lived their happiest years together in Gillingham, Wis., outside of Richland Center.  Al was proud to have been a hard worker all his life.  He was a simple and humble man who was most happy on his tractor and with his cattle on their farm.

Alan is survived by his children, Sean (Mary McDermott) Noble of Chicago, Ill., and Heather (James) Dunne of Mount Horeb, Wis.; two beloved grandsons, Kieran Dunne and Logan Dunne both of Mount Horeb, Wis.; brothers, Duane (Sue) Pope of New Glarus, Wis., and Bruce (Jeanne) Pope of the Richland Center area; as well as two sisters-in-law, many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Sonja (Dickson Noble) Pope; and his parents, Emory and Beatrice Pope.

Per Al’s request, no funeral services will be held.  A private ceremony will take place at a later date.  Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Family Tributes:

If Al called someone a “working fool,” it was about the highest compliment he could pay them: I’ve rarely seen a harder-working man than Al in my life, and he greatly valued that quality in others.  He loved what he loved, and very intensely: A good card game. Calves running to meet him for feeding on his farm. Pretty much everything else about his farm, too.  And above all else, Al loved my mother and my sister and his family, and particularly his grandsons.

We loved him right back, for so many things. Over 45 years ago, Al brought joy back into the life of my little family at a time when we desperately needed it: Heather and I were so glad that Mom once again had an enthusiastic dance partner! He took me to my first rock concert. He showed me how to shave and endured the passenger seat on some of my earliest teenaged test drives - and the latter was the far shakier experience, when I nearly sideswiped a parked car and momentarily panicked Al. He served as best man at my wedding. And while I never was able to fully retain the Euchre tips that Al patiently and repeatedly provided me, he remained my favorite Rummy 500 partner for more than four decades of card-playing.

I’ll really miss our card games, our medium for long-running conversations about the world and its people.  I’ll miss Al, very much.   - Sean Noble

When I was ten years old, my single mom brought home a jolly, good-natured, country boy whom she had been dating for a short time.  We knew this guy was different by the positive change that shone in our mom once they began going dancing and to dinners, and that positive influence began to radiate through our little family and home from that point on. Taking on two pre-teenage kids with his newfound love, poor Dad didn’t stand a chance.  We were happy to welcome him, and I was thrilled to smother him with attention in many forms. Dad was patient enough to allow me to try out new hairdos on him and dress him in my hats, jewelry, and Halloween makeup. He remained still as I buried him in piles of stuffed animals, and he suffered through my testing out many recipes, many of which should never have been tasted by a live entity. He put up with endless crazy music, loud escapades, and dance fests. He took us to his farm on many weekends, and Sean and I would take hikes and investigate life on the farm while Mom and Dad went off to farm the land and work with the cattle.  

As we got older, even though Dad prized his vehicles and washed and polished them regularly, he taught both my brother and I how to drive in those poor cars and likely gained more than a few gray hairs for his efforts!  Once, when I was waitressing at a restaurant, he let me borrow his truck for transportation - and soon lived to regret that as I backed into a metal pylon in a parking lot and put a bright bus-yellow stripe and matching dent down the side of his chocolate brown vehicle. Dad taught me how to work on cars and how to save and invest (another big hobby of his).  In addition to family gatherings, he was always there for all our important events, cheering us on with our mom. Dad gave me away at my wedding, and he was there to support me in all my difficult days and forgive me for the many mistakes I made while growing up.  When I gave birth to sons, Dad took on his favorite family role, that of being Grampa. Grampa beamed with pride whenever he held his grandsons, and as they grew, he took them for tractor rides and on adventures at the farm. And he spent the rest of his life bragging about his two grandsons. As life got more challenging with health scares, we were all together, supporting each other and working through the tough times like all close-knit families do.  

Mom and Dad had the kind of relationship that most people aren’t lucky enough to experience - they were the love of each other’s lives, were a perfect match, and were inseparable. It was difficult to imagine one without the other, and it was infrequent for them to be apart. They were dance partners both on the floor and in life. When Mom became gravely ill years ago, Dad drove every single day for months, over an hour each way, to be with her and hold her hand, participating in her therapies and reminding her of their many wonderful memories together before leaving at night to drive home - only to do it again, early the next morning. When we lost my mother, a big part of my dad became lost that day as well.  

For the last five years, I have had the challenge and the privilege of being my dad’s fill-in sidekick, caring for him, helping him on the farm, driving him to appointments, etc. It was not an easy task, but what a blessing it was to have that time - all those special moments and life lessons with my dad. I was able to make many new memories and to listen to stories of both his life and of my mother. In recent months, my dad shared that he was very happy with his life and proud of what he had accomplished. He said that he was at peace with the idea that he was ready to go. I firmly believe that he has taken his place with my mom on that great dance floor in the sky and resumed their beautiful love story, together again - which is all he wanted in the end.  

I will forever be grateful that this wonderful, good-natured, hard-working, old-fashioned man fell in love with a spunky, funny, compassionate woman with a radiant personality and was willing to become part of a ready-made, quirky family. I will desperately miss him, our many daily conversations, and even all his antics, but it is with very deep and profound gratitude and love that I thank him for so many, many wonderful memories.  Al was and always will be, my dad.   - Heather Dunne

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