Elizabeth "Liz" Martineau

Mass of Christian Funeral  will be held on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 11:00AM at Saint Bronislava Church, 3200 Plover Road, Plover, Wisconsin. The Very Rev. Edward J. Shuttleworth will officiate the service.  Family and friends are invited to a Visitation at the church from 10:00AM until the time of the Mass.

Elizabeth "Liz"(Diederich) Martineau, age 84 passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on January 10, 2023 at Vitas Hospice Healthcare in Orlando, Florida.

Elizabeth is the daughter of Charles J. and Alice F. (Yost) Diederich, born on March 8, 1938, in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Liz was the 5th born of 6 children: the late Bill (Mary) Diederich, the late Joe (Kay) Diederich, the late James Diederich, the late Mary Alice "Mitzi" (Alan) Lanke and her youngest brother, Fran (Shirley) Diederich of Madison, WI.

Liz grew up in Chippewa Falls and attended McDonell High School. It was here where Prom Queen Elizabeth met her Prom King Roger and over time fell in love. Liz and Roger married on July 11, 1959. They have six children, 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren spread out over WI, MN, CO, MD, TN, GA and CA. Liz and Roger lived the majority of their married lives in Wisconsin transferring from Milwaukee to Stevens Point and back again, twice during Roger's 28-year career with U.P.S. Liz and Roger settled in Plover, Wisconsin to raise their family.

Liz earned her Bachelors of Science Degree in Elementary Education at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in 1970, all while being mother to five young children. Becoming a teacher and being a mother to six children was Liz's nature and greatest life blessings. Further, Liz considered it her higher-calling to mentor others. She had a sincere desire to help and guide others. She excelled at

listening, providing encouragement, compassion, and reliability - earning her the trust and connections to grow with and through children and her numerous mentees. Liz was a valued and trusted mentor. She was an avid reader and arbiter of knowledge. She routinely made copies, snipped articles, and mailed off bits of knowledge she thought may be of interest and of value to those she held most dear. A lifelong learner, Liz was a faithful viewer and supporter of PBS. She enjoyed sharing highlights from Nature and NOVA and other PBS weekly programming when chatting with others during her routine, weekly phone calls. Liz was masterful at staying connected through her continuous and consistent phone calls to her children, family, friends, and mentees.

"Mrs. Martineau" - was a teacher serving children for eight years at various elementary schools throughout the greater Stevens Point Area school district including Jefferson, Jackson, Roosevelt and Plover-Whiting. In an effort to provide more opportunities for her own six children, Liz transitioned to corporate and worked as a Workers' Compensation Claims Adjuster with Sentry Insurance for 16 years, retiring in 1994 at the age of 56.

Creating family time was a central motivator for Liz. She and Roger would pack up the 8-person family every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day and go camping together. First tent-camping, then a pop-up Jayco camper, followed by a motorhome and finally a cabin at Plum Lake in Sayner, WI and lastly a home alongside Yellow Birch Lake in Eagle River, WI. Camping and cabin life ensured quality family time. Through the making of camp, playing games, building fires, sharing scary stories, jumping off the pier and swimming together, Liz fostered fun and invaluable shared experiences with family and friends.

Liz grew evermore connected with friends and family through her card playing. Liz was an avid card player. Liz modeled work, life and family balance when she made time each week to play Bridge with her Bridge group which consisted of some of her most cherished lifelong friends. She even developed her own Bridge game dealing herself 4 hands, playing solo right up to her final days. It was the camaraderie and socializing with others she most valued.

Sharing a family dinner every day was a priority for Liz. An important family tradition she passed along to each of her six children and many of her grandchildren. Cleanliness and orderliness were of high importance. She was forever seeking to make her home and world a better place. When walking and talking, she would always carry a trash bag and pick up the scattered litter she saw on her daily walks. Further, she wrote letters to the editor of daily newspapers, "Let's Keep Talking Trash" in an effort to help raise awareness to the need for picking up litter.

Liz and Roger both retired and became official "snowbirds" in 1996, trading Wisconsin winters for the sunshine of their second home in DeBary, FL. Children, grandchildren, and friends were frequent visitors. All were warmly welcomed and treated to Liz's home cooked meals, beloved pies and peanut butter cookies.

Liz was a very communal and engaged person. She had the ability to make others laugh…the kind of "hold your belly, can't breathe, tears streaming down your face kind of laughs," recalls one of Liz's granddaughters. Liz was forever seeking to listen and support. She was most positive, sharing bright hellos, words of encouragement, and countless compliments. Liz was the person her kids, grandkids and countless friends called with good news, when in need of advice, or just because she had the natural ability to make you feel better when a conversation with her ended.

Cherished family time was fostered every December at the EAA Lodge in Oshkosh. For nearly twenty years, Liz and Roger brought the entire family of nearly 40 to gather and celebrate the blessings of family and Christmas. Grandma Liz enjoyed reveling in the pleasure of having her grandchildren and great- grandchildren, her children, their spouses and significant others sharing meals, making music, playing games, and exchanging gifts.

Liz is survived by her husband Roger, her children Michele(the late Doug Pearson and ex-husband, David

Lila) of Wild Rose, WI. David (Mike Brilowski) of Ogdensburg, WI, Nannette (Bruce Sroda )of Stevens Point,

WI, Lisa (ex-husband Paul) Chilsen of Kenosha, WI, Beth(Peter) Hassler of Suamico, WI and Susanne

(Scott) Davis of Carlsbad, CA. Further survived by one brother Fran Diederich of Madison, WI.

sister-in-law, Dolores "Dodi" Driscoll (Larry Freeborg) of Chippewa Falls, WI, 2 godchildren; Bob Diederich of Vero Beach, FL and Stephanie (Lanke) Levandoski of West Allis, WI, her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 3 brothers, 1 sister and  3 sister- and in-laws.

Liz's cremains will return to Plover, WI with Roger in the spring. A Mass of Christian Funeral  will be held on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 11:00AM at Saint Bronislava Church, 3200 Plover Road, Plover, Wisconsin. The Very Rev. Edward J. Shuttleworth will officiate the service.  Family and friends are invited to a Visitation at the church from 10:00AM until the time of the Mass. The Pisarski Community Funeral Home & Cremation Center of Plover, WI is honored to be serving the family. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.pisarskifuneralhome.com