Alberta Mae Smith Holzhuter Steffen

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ called home his good and faithful servant Alberta on November 12, 2025. Alberta had an amazing strength of spirit and ready smile for all. She loved to talk with people she knew and those she didn’t.

Her strength was most apparent in her devotion to Jesus Christ and her family. Alberta’s favorite Bible passage was Psalm 23. She memorized this Psalm for her confirmation. Alberta knew God’s shepherding presence her whole life long, up to the end. She lived believing that God was present with her in green pastures and by still waters as well as through the valley of the shadow. She would wish for all of us to know this presence, God’s presence, that holds us through the good as well as the not good times in our lives. “For you are with me...” was Alberta’s confession of faith and the prayer of her heart.

Albert and Helen Smith welcomed their daughter, Alberta Mae on May 15, 1931. The other children were Bill, Harold and Judy. Alberta was affectionately known as “Lefte” to her Smith family. They lived on Rusk Street in Madison with uncle Bob and aunt Esther upstairs.

Shortly after her graduation from Madison East High School – a proud “Forty-niner Purgolder” she married William Holzhuter in Zion Lutheran Church in Madison on July 7, 1951. Together they traveled to Norfolk, Va. during Bill’s service in the U.S. Navy. After Bill received his degree in mortuary science, they worked together “24/7” in the Holzhuter Funeral Home on Main Street in Stoughton. Two children, Ruth and John, were born and raised in this time. For decades, Alberta took joy in hosting Thanksgiving Day dinner with extended family. Bill and Alberta were very involved in the Stoughton community, church groups and the children’s sports and Dancer activities. Upon retirement, they spent winters in Florida.

After Bill’s death in 1986, Alberta drove herself to and found a new community in Imperial Manor Mobile Home Park in Lakeland, Fla. She loved this place and the people there. She instituted and led the “Chair Exercise” and “Pool Exercise” programs and bible studies for many years. It was here that she met and married John “Herm” Steffen in 2009. They traveled from Ohio to Stoughton throughout the summers and spent the winters in lovely, warm and snowless Lakeland. During this time they were active in the community and enjoyed traveling with the group.

Alberta moved to Skaalen Heights in Stoughton in September of 2022 to a small apartment with meals furnished. This was the perfect place for her where she met some new and old friends.

She moved once again, in May of 2024 to Heritage Center at Skaalen Home. This assisted living facility is top notch and the residents were her new family. Alberta had the honor of being Skaalen Royalty for Syttende Mai in 2025. She believed in the benefits of walking and “walked the talk” up until her devastating fall about two weeks before passing. Ruth and John sooooo appreciate all of the love and attention given to mom throughout her stay and especially those final weeks. The Stoughton community is blessed to have this facility.

Alberta’s parents predeceased her along with Bill (Vivian) Smith, Harold (Sharon) Smith and Judy Harris. Husband Bill passed in 1986 and husband Herm in 2020. She is survived by her children, Ruth (Bryan) Warbalow and John (Tammie) Holzhuter. The expanded family includes grandsons, Jamie (Gracie) Holzhuter-Currie, Matthew Warbalow, Father Jared Holzhuter, Nathan Warbalow; and granddaughter, Michaela (Blake) Frederick. Great-grandchildren are Gideon, Gabriel, Ethan and Everleigh Warbalow, Madeline and Noah Frederick, Eve “Kettle” and Ian “Esker” Holzhuter-Currie. Many nieces and nephews have remained in contact with Alberta and were a blessing to her.

A funeral service will be held at Skaalen Chapel at Skaalen Retirement Services, 400 N. Morris St., Stoughton, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. Burial will take place at Lutheran East Cemetery in Stoughton. Visitation will be held at Skaalen from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Thursday.

Memorials in honor of Alberta can be made to The Vineyard Church in care of Pastor Bob Groth, 125 Jill Court, Oregon, WI 53575 or Skaalen Resident Benevolent Care Endowment Fund at Skaalen Retirement Services, 400 N. Morris St., Stoughton, WI 53589. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.