Trudy A. Schroeder Houlihan

Trudy A. Schroeder Houlihan peacefully completed her life journey and gained her wings at Marshfield Hospital in Weston on Thursday, July 13, 2023, surrounded by her loving family. 

On that day, heaven gained the very best Nana, wife, mother, bonus mother and sister that her loved ones were blessed to have in their lives.

Trudy was born on Nov. 6, 1963, to Don “Doc” Schroeder and Joyce Zietlow Schroeder in Rhinelander. One of four siblings — Tony (Jill) Schroeder, Terri Schroeder and Toby Schroder — Trudy graduated from Rhinelander High School. 

She worked for many years at Superior Diesel before serving as a legal secretary for the then-named Johnson & Houlihan Law Firm and later the Houlihan Law Firm, raising her two daughters Heather (Ryan) Nieds and Taylor Pilat on Hemlock Street in a little house full of love.

She married the love of her life, John Houlihan, on April 24, 2009, gaining a devoted husband and bonus daughter Kate (Carl) Schultz. 

As the years went by, three grandchildren — Alec Pilat, Claire Nieds and Audrey Nieds — joined the family and became the light of her life. Nana and Papa’s house was the life of the party, where dancing in the kitchen was encouraged just as much as sliding down the stairs and jumping on the bed. 

In her quieter moments, she loved to read, fish, and celebrate cherished holiday traditions. (Okay, so maybe those traditions weren’t SO quiet — annual Christmas cookie baking weekends were full of flour and frosting, Black Friday shopping was sleepy chaos, opening stockings on Christmas Eve was loud and joyous, and that one Easter egg hunt in 2009 complete with water guns was definitely one to remember.)

Her family and friends remember her with tears and laughter over a life well-lived — and with a few shenanigans that come from being part of The Loud Family. They rejoice through their sorrow that she is Home with the Lord she loved beyond all measure and is reunited with her father, mother and infant brother Toby.

Visitation for Trudy will be held on Thursday, July 20, 2023, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Carlson Funeral Home in Rhinelander. Visitation will also be held on Friday, July 21, 2023 from 10 a.m. until the Mass of Christian Burial  at 11 a.m., all at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff. Father Kevin Farrell will be officiating. 

Interment will be in the Forest Home Cemetery in Rhinelander. You may leave your private condolences for the Houlihan family at www.carlsonfh.com.

 In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Ronald McDonald House Charities, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The Carlson Funeral Home (715-369-1414) is serving the Houlihan family.