Caroline W. Buss (nee Huttner), age 90, of Beaver Dam took her final bow on Friday, January 6, 2023 at home with family members at her side.

A memorial gathering for Caroline will take place on Friday, May 26, 2023 at Cornerstone Funeral & Cremation Services, 135 Keller Blvd., Beaver Dam, from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the Celebration of Life service at 11:00 a.m. Inurnment will take place at St. Malachy Cemetery in Horicon.

Caroline was born in Watertown,  on December 7, 1932, to Katherine and Lorenz Huttner. She graduated from Mayville High School and went on to Dubuque Nursing School. She married Albert Buss from Juneau, WI, on February 9, 1952 in Neosho and raised six children in the Beaver Dam area.

Caroline had so many interests and hobbies including cooking, sewing, fishing, going to garage sales, gardening, Bingo, furniture refinishing, and mostly spending time with friends and family. One of her greatest passions was watching and attending Green Bay Packer games. On her 70th birthday she was gifted a meet and greet with Bart Starr and Brett Favre. She never stopped talking about that day. Her other great passion was Beaver Dam Community Theatre. She helped design sets, sewed costumes, and acted in various roles. Caroline also produced and directed several BDCT plays. She so loved her friends from BDCT and kept in contact for many years to relive those precious memories. She worked for many years at the old Lutheran Hospital in Beaver Dam where she made wonderful friendships, memories, and enjoyed many laughs. In the 1970's, Caroline and Al bought the old Schmittys tavern on Center Street and renamed it The Buss Stop. Caroline's prowess for cooking turned the little tavern into one of the best-known fish fry's in town. There they sponsored several softball tournaments between employees of Kraft Foods, Kirsch Foundry and patrons of the Buss Stop, which led to lots of laughter and craziness. She was a member of the Wisconsin Tavern League where she "worked hard but played harder." She often recalled the many fun escapades of the League gatherings. Caroline and Al eventually sold the tavern and moved to Oroville, California to be closer to some of their kids. After a few years, they returned to Beaver Dam and built their dream home on the lake where they loved fishing from their dock with family and friends. They enjoyed many years traveling the U.S. in their Airstream trailer, and taking vacations to Tahiti, Jamaica, and Canada. But her greatest love of all were her children, the grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was blessed to have spent so many years being close to her kids and especially her grandkids.

Caroline is survived by her husband Albert Buss of Beaver Dam, her sons, Charlie Buss of Beaver Dam and Russ Buss of Paradise, CA; her daughters, Amy Buss-Gettys (Tom), Laura Huttner Goodall (Sam) of Baraboo, Donna Brashears-Stillwell (Dave) of French Gulch, CA, and Rebecca Billey (Jeff); 13 grandchildren; and 27 great grandchildren.

Preceding her in death were her parents, brother, Henry Huttner; sisters, Margaret Nitschke, Katherine Kanas, Pauline Sawyer; and an infant sister, Anna Huttner.

The family would like to thank Generations Hospice for their compassionate care of mom over the past year. We would also like to say "thank you" to her wonderful friends, who throughout the years helped mom relive those laughs, parties, and memories of happy times. She's got her dancing shoes with angel wings now. Heaven is a happier place with her in it.

Cornerstone Funeral & Cremation Services in Beaver Dam is honored to be serving the family.