Audrey Barbara (Grode) Nussbaum, 84, headed for Heaven on April 19, 2020, accompanied by a part of our hearts. We think she vamoosed in order to avoid having to drink any more of that dreaded substance, water. She was an amazing gal! She was born on March 23, 1936, to Willard and Aurelia (Schmalz) Grode, the second of five children.

Audrey was a highly intelligent, precise woman. She made sure her children were exposed to all manner of experiences including visits to local historical sites, music lessons, tons of books, and more. Surely she was frustrated with at least a couple of her children who bucked learning, but they all seemed to turn out fine, so perhaps her efforts were not in vain. She took a keen interest in others and was of great assistance to many, for which she took little credit. Audrey was an excellent cook, famous for her lemon meringue pie and peanut cake over which many of the relatives often fought. (Recipes will be shared at her funeral). If you are going to miss some of her dishes as much as we will, give us a shout and we'll hook you up with the recipe!

Audrey graduated from Shiocton High School in 1954, the Salutatorian of her class. She was employed as a secretary at Morrissey and Lang Insurance Agency, a career she absolutely loved as one of her duties was shopping for her boss's wife, which was great fun for her. In May of 1957 she married her high school sweetheart, Raymond E. Nussbaum. They raised four children together, requiring a lot of humor and tolerance on their parts.

Audrey flew twice in her life…in 1957, to go visit Ray while he was serving in the U.S. Navy in Long Beach, California and again in the 80's over Shawano Lake in a small plane. That was more than enough air travel for her! The remainder of her travel adventures closely resembled National Lampoon's Vacation, involving a station wagon with paneling, journeying to Disneyland in California, Disney World in Florida and many destinations in between. Additional trips were made, by this time in the ubiquitous minivan, to Montana, Texas, Utah and Oregon to visit her children and grandchildren.

Audrey adored rummage sales, both as a shopper and as a host. Some of her biggest scores included a parachute, a set of golf clubs with $100 bill in the pocket, and enough Little Tykes toys to equip the nation's daycares. She leaves behind a LOT of stuff that her family doesn't know what to do with. Expect the mother-lode of rummage sales in the foreseeable future.

Audrey also loved being a pollworker for local, state, and national elections. She enjoyed collecting votes at local nursing facilities, working on voting days, and going to lunch with the "poll ladies".

Audrey is survived by her husband of 62 years, Ray. She's further survived by her four children, Dr. Bonnie Nussbaum, Rapid River, MI; Dr. Vicki Nussbaum, Sun Prairie, WI; Kerri Nussbaum (Mark Leberg), Hillsboro, OR; and Marty Nussbaum (Jen Scherz), Kaukauna, WI. She leaves behind four beloved grandchildren, Logan Stefonek (Frances Morris), Salt Lake City, UT; Lauren Stefonek, Manitowoc, WI; Kaisa Leberg, Eugene, OR; and Max Leberg, Hillsboro, OR. She is also survived by several granddogs.

Audrey is further survived by siblings and their spouses, Floyd (Norma Pelky) Grode; Roger (Judy Stingle) Grode; and Rene' (Lois Willencamp) Grode. She's also survived by brothers-in-law and their spouses, Ronald (Dolores VanHandel) Nussbaum; and Robert (Mary Pat Omholt) Nussbaum.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Willard and Aurelia Grode; her in-laws, John and Regina (Reimer) Nussbaum; brother, Myron Grode, and sister-in-law, Cathy Nussbaum Coenen.

O'Connell Funeral Home in Little Chute is handling arrangements. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church, Appleton at a later date due to COVID guidelines.

The family would like to thank Ascension At Home Hospice, especially Nurses Jenny and Laurie for their stellar care and support.