Jane Gourlie

Gourlie, Jane Corrine MADISON Jane Corrine Gourlie, age 84, of Madison, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday morning, Jan. 17, 2008, at Kindred Hearts Assisted Living Residence, Cottage Grove. HospiceCare, in Fitchburg, had been assisting her and her family for the past three weeks. Corrine was born on March 28, 1923, in Madison, to Harold and Hilda (Bjornstad) Dawe. She had one brother, George, whom she spoke of often. George lost his life serving his country during World War II in Italy on June 26, 1944 and Corrine missed him dearly. She spent most of her young life growing up on Madisons East side, living on Johnson St. Corrine graduated from Madison East High School. After high school, her first and last job was at Wisconsin Bell as a telephone operator. Corrine worked there for 15 years. She met Virgil Gourlie while working at Wisconsin Bell and they were married in November 1948, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. Corrine almost missed her own wedding, as she was stuck for 30 minutes behind a Thanksgiving Day parade float. Virgil was soon transferred to Fort Atkinson. Corrine retired from Wisconsin Bell since Virgil did not want her driving to Madison. Later, they moved to Appleton because of a job transfer and then to Waukesha. When Virgil retired, they moved back to Madison. Corrine and Virgil loved to go out to eat and once bragged they had been to every restaurant and bar in Madison. Oh how she loved her martinis! Her favorite past time was shopping. Every year while living in Madison, they volunteered for Special Olympics. It gave both of them a lot of joy and pleasure. Virgil surprised Corrine with a Cairn Terrier puppy in 1992 and they named him MacDuffy. She enjoyed taking MacDuffy for walks. Corrine had a close circle of friends that would meet regularly for lunch at the Elks Club in Madison. She was active with the Telephone Pioneers in Madison. Corrine and Virgil loved to travel and entertain. Once, while on their way by train to New Orleans, their trip was canceled due to a hurricane and she always regretted that they never made it back to New Orleans. They used to travel every year to Travers City, Mich. to visit Corrines uncle, Brian. One of her favorite trips was to Europe and she always wished she could go back. Both Corrine and Virgil were loyal members of the Elks Club. They were also members of St. Dennis Catholic Church. Corrine is survived by a brother-in-law, Merlin (Jack) Gourlie; sister-in-law, Maxine Parks; a cousin, Myrtle (Gordon) Nesthus; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Virgil; her parents, Harold and Hilda; her brother, George; and her husbands parents, John and Hazel. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at ST. DENNIS CATHOLIC CHURCH, 505 Dempsey Road, Madison, at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, with Father Kent Schmitt presiding. Burial will follow at Highland Memory Gardens, Cottage Grove, with luncheon to follow immediately in Fellowship Hall at the church. Visitation will be at the church from 9 a.m. until the time of the service on Monday. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Kindred Hearts Assisted Living, Cottage Grove or HospiceCare Inc. The family suggests a donation of a new teddy bear (with tags) to the Dori Bear Project at Hospice or bring them the day of the service. A special thank you to the wonderful staff at Kindred Hearts and HospiceCare for taking good care of our Aunt Corrine.