John Dolan Geoghegan

John Dolan Geoghegan, at the age of 100, stepped peacefully into eternal happiness on July 10, 2022, after a full, rich and beautiful life.

Born and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, John was the middle child of Thomas and Agnes Dolan Geoghegan. A graduate of the BHS class of 1941, John was the first employee of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant delivering mail from a 1939 Chevy pick-up to the vast and bustling operations underway on the prairie. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, he served in the 103^rd Infantry Division (409^th Regiment) in the Vosges Mountains campaign in Europe during WWII where he was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in action and received a battlefield commission to 1^st Lieutenant. In March of 1945 he was wounded after crossing the Siegried Line into Germany for which he received a Purple Heart. That Purple Heart turned out to be perhaps his most fortunate achievement since it led to him meeting his wife of 65 years and the love of his life, Army nurse, Lt. Jane Allen who called him "the funniest man I ever met."

John served for 30 years as the Sauk County Highway Commissioner. He was president of the Wisconsin County Commissioners group, served on the Wisconsin Railroad Commission, Sauk County Historical Society board of directors, the St. Joseph's Catholic Church Parish Council and, upon retirement, was elected to the Greenfield Town Board for 30 years. John was instrumental in the development of Camp Gray, was a long-time member of the Knights of Columbus and of the venerable Koshawago Club. Recently, the Sauk County Board of Supervisors, in recognition of his long and excellent leadership, named the meeting room in the new Highway Department building after him.

John was a scotch drinker, a storyteller, a devoted Catholic, a dedicated family man, a lover of all things Baraboo and Sauk County, a lifelong outdoorsman and hunter, a reader of history, a horseman who rode his beloved Arabian, Sheherazade in multiple Great Circus Parades in Milwaukee, Chicago and Baraboo, a scrapbooker, and for his family always Exhibit A whenever the Greatest Generation was cited.

John's interests were many and varied. He was an avid reader, daily consuming the Baraboo News Republic and the Wisconsin State Journal, he was a long-time subscriber to the Western Horseman, National Geographic, Yankee Magazine and appeared to place an inordinate amount of trust in the Old Farmers Almanac. John was also fascinated with logging from a practical and historical perspective. He bought an old sawmill in the 1960s and sawed much of the lumber that went into the home he and Jane built south of Baraboo. In retirement, he began making furniture, benches and childrens picnic tables and almost to the very end he constructed hundreds of carefully made pine boxes that he sold to Duluth Trading Company.

To say John was proud of his Irish heritage only scratches at the surface of it. The South Central Wisconsin Shamrock Club named him Irishman of the year in 1988, for which he served as master of ceremonies at the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration for many years. The Shamrock Club, in which he avidly belonged for more than 30 years, named John Irishman of the Century on his recent birthday, June 15^th. The family assumes the next Irishman of the Century will be named in 2122.

His deft ear for humor was matched by his enjoyment of it. His stories of the people he met during the course of his life and the tales he heard were enormously interesting and entertaining and will live on for as long as anyone who heard them can share them -- and should. His humor was wry and sharp and it attracted and regaled an array of friends across generations from all walks of life.

John had a special regard for family and friends from the Norwalk area where his Irish immigrant grandparents settled in the 1870s, and where he spent some of the happiest days of his life. It included a cast of characters his family often never knew, but, who live on in his remarkable and all true -- tales.

At 100, needless to say, John was predeceased by his parents; his loving wife, Jane in 2012; his daughter, Mary Catherine (Cass) Lamb; his brother, Tom and sister Mary Margery. He is survived by his son-in-law John Lamb of Eau Claire; his children, Timothy (Judy) and Seamus (Elizabeth), of Baraboo; Anne, Menominee Falls; Patrick (Kiki) Madison; and Eileen Sailer (Bill) of Eau Claire. He is also survived by nine adoring grandchildren, Patrick Lamb, Torino, IT, Erin Lamb Rand (Tom), Somerville, MA; Ryan Geoghegan, Kansas City, MO; Kelly Geoghegan, Austin, TX; Andy Mitchell, Superior, WI; Flannery Geoghegan, Washington, D.C., Cassidy Geoghegan, Chicago; Nolan Sailer; Daniel Sailer, both of Brooklyn, NY; and Emily Sailer, Minneapolis. He is further survived by four great-grandchildren, Gregory and Jamison of Kansas City and Wyatt and Emerson of Superior, and cherished nieces and nephews.

Friends may greet the family at 9:00 a.m., Friday July 15, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church to the time of the celebration of the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. Burial with military honors will follow at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials in John's name may be made to the Sauk County Historical Societys Baraboo Depot restoration project. Home - Sauk County Historical Society (saukcountyhistory.org). The Redlin-Ertz Funeral Home is assisting the family.