Denise L. McCauley

Denise L. McCauley, aged 73, passed away peacefully on Monday, July 7, 2025 at SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital, surrounded by her loving children, grandchildren, and siblings.

Denise was born on September 11, 1951 in Ripon, WI, the first child to Warren and Evelyn (Nimmer) Page. Denise was raised there and graduated from Ripon High School in 1970. As one of 51 grandchildren of the late Henry and Anna (Witt) Page, Denise was part of a large, loving family and grew up creating memories with aunts, uncles and cousins in the area, culminating in a Page reunion every August of her childhood and beyond. She worked for 30 years at the Condon Companies and for seven years at Ripon Medical Center.

Her children, Mark and Adam, were the joys of her life. She was extremely proud of Mark’s 20 year career as a United States Navy ‘nuke,’ and found great joy in going to numerous concerts in which Adam played trumpet. Special memories included going on a day-long cruise on Mark’s aircraft carrier in 1995, and of taking enough piano lessons to be able to play a duet in a recital with Adam. When they were grown and married, her sons blessed her with the grandchildren on whom she doted. For all of her life, Denise loved to read; libraries were special for her, and she tried to pass along this love of reading to her beloved grandchildren. She liked most kinds of music as well as movies, especially those from the 1930s and 1940s. Denise was a creative, intense and affectionate woman who planned parties, wrote, sewed, made scrapbooks, and went to breakfast, lunch and dinner with family and friends. She considered her friends one of the best parts of her life. She was so pleased to have had a pen pal since 1961; the pen pal was originally from Ripon in England and they became acquainted through a school project when Denise was in 5th grade.

Denise is survived by her sons, Mark (Patricia) Rasske of Hartford, WI and Adam (Oksana) Rasske of Brookfield, WI. She left behind grandchildren, Riley, Zoe, and Eli Rasske of Hartford, WI and Vladislav, Dmitri, and Ilya Rasske of Brookfield, WI. She is also survived by sisters and brothers, Patti (Douglas) Schrader, David Page, Phillip Page and Maureen (Ronald) Thayer. She is further survived by her aunt, Merle Good; as well as dozens of cousins; nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Warren and Evelyn Page.

Visitation for Denise will be held on Thursday, July 24, 2025 from 9:00 until 11:00 am at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 401 W. Fond du Lac St., Ripon, WI 54971.

Memorial service for Denise will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, July 24, 2025 at Immanuel United Methodist Church, with Rev. Dr. Heather Brewer officiating. Inurnment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery, Ripon, WI. Memorials are being established to benefit research on Multiple Sclerosis and on Autism.