Barbola Funeral Chapel

Alice Korwitz Parsons

“The first 100 years weren’t too bad, it’s the second 100 years I’m not so sure about.” AKP, January 12, 2017.

Alice Ruth Korwitz was born near midnight, after a mild winter day, January 12, 1917, the second of three daughters born to Otto and Hedwig Post Korwitz. She was baptized into the Lutheran faith on January 14, 1917. At the age of five years, Al began her formal education at Bush School, a one-room country school near the Korwitz home south of Berlin. In the third grade she was enrolled at St. John Lutheran School in Berlin, was confirmed and graduated valedictorian of her class of 1930. She attended Berlin High School and was chosen by her classmates as Berlin High School’s Miss Berlin of 1934. In those years Mr. & Miss Berlin did not reign over a football game, but led their fellow classmates in an elaborate marching pageant in the gymnasium. Al, and Mr. Berlin, Eddie Schomperlin, were praised by faculty and classmates for their perfect execution and leadership at that pageant. It was a proud moment for a shy farm girl.

After her high school graduation in 1934, Al attended Green Lake County Normal for teacher training and graduated in 1935. She went on to teach in one-room schools in Pleasant Grove, north of Princeton, and Kelm School in Green Lake. In the summers she worked as a waitress at Steele’s Restaurant in downtown Berlin where she met her beloved Don. He would come into Steele’s frequently and order a glass of buttermilk and she often wondered why ANYONE would drink buttermilk!! Donald J. Parsons and Alice Ruth Korwitz were married in the war years, May 6, 1942, in a rather unique ceremony. Don was baptized, confirmed, joined the church, married, and they both received Holy Communion at the same ceremony. The next morning Don boarded the train in Green Lake and left for the west coast to begin his tour of duty with the Army. They did not know if they would ever see each other again. Once Don was permanently stationed in San Diego, California, Al joined him there working as a Library Clerk for the City of San Diego.

After the war Don and Al spent several winters in St. Augustine, Florida, where they were employed at the Ponce de Leon Hotel. It was during those trips to the south that they noticed the growing popularity of “Pig-Stands” (drive-in restaurants). In the spring of 1948, they built the second “Pig-Stand” in Berlin, under the A&W Root Beer franchise, the menu – hot dogs and root beer. In July of 1948, they expanded both the menu and building and “Don’s Hilltop Drive-In” was established, with the hours of 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM daily. The Hilltop continued to be their main enterprise for the next 16 years. For three years they also operated “Don’s Diner” in downtown Berlin, where the Fortifi (1st National) Bank parking lot is located. From 1964-1968, Al returned to teaching grades 3 and 4 at St. John Lutheran School, Berlin.

A lover of poetry and writing poetry from an early age, Al wrote all of the poetry for the 1934 Berlin High School yearbook, “A Tribute to the Mascoutin Indians”. An avid genealogist, she did much research into her and Don’s maternal and paternal families. She wrote the life stories of her parent’s family and her husband’s family, and did detailed biographical work of her and Don’s lives, both their growing up years and their years together. That interest in genealogy led her to record the inscriptions and information of every tombstone at Bush Cemetery, presenting each board member with an organized booklet of all buried there. With her love for the written word and not wanting the art of letter writing to be forgotten, Al spent many years corresponding with her beloved high school classmates and many of her friends and family. At the time of her passing, Al was the last known living member of Berlin High School’s Class of 1934 and the oldest living member of the Berlin Alumni Association.

Alice Ruth Korwitz Parsons left this life on earth for eternal life with her Lord on October 10, 2021, at the age of 104 and three-quarters. She is survived by her three children and their families, daughter, Karen (Rob) Wendt and their children, Jason (Susan) Wendt, Nathan, Allison and Ryan; and Joshua (Kim) Wendt, Jordan and Max; son, Gregory (Vicky) Parsons and their children, Katie (Travis) Newman, Deegan and Brodie; and Molly (Scott) Norbryhn, Owen and Isabel; daughter, Deb (Kevin) Koch and children Jeff Degener and Laura Touray. She is further survived by nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Don on July, 24, 1999; her parents; and sisters Gertrude(Arnold) Loeffler and Margaret (Lt. Col. Carl H.) Griffin.

She will receive Christian burial from St. John Lutheran Church in Berlin, of which she was a lifelong member, on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at 11:00 AM, Rev. Paul Mundinger officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. She will be laid to rest next to Don at Oakwood Cemetery in Berlin. Memorials may be given to St. John Lutheran School in Berlin or Agnesian Hospice Hope.

A special thank you to the caring and compassionate staff at Patriot Place in Berlin, the “angels” of Agnesian Hospice Hope, especially Joy, and to Dr. Mike Shattuck, for his years of gentle care.

“So live, that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.” From Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant.

Anyone wishing to send a sympathy card to the family, please mail to Alice Parsons, c/o Barbola Funeral Chapel, PO Box 201, Berlin, WI 54923.