Brenda Sue Rizzo, 82, passed away peacefully on September 26, 2023, from battling leukemia. Brenda was born in Huntington, TN on August 20, 1941, the daughter of the late Joseph and Virginia Gooch.
As a young girl she contracted Polio and spent some time at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, TN. After returning home she helped her family by picking cotton with her sister, Joyce. Later, as a teenager, she moved to Kenosha County to be with her father who moved there early to find work. She attended Salem Central High School and graduated in 1960. She had many friends and loved to dance. She was even invited to dance in Chicago at the “Jim Loundsbury Television Show”.
A few years later, Brenda had decided to go on a Florida vacation with her girlfriend to Fort Lauderdale. It was there she met Chuck Rizzo – even though they were both living in Kenosha! They became friends and were inseparable. They did everything together and eventually got married in the winter of February 1967.
Brenda and Chuck both worked at American Motors. Brenda ultimately stopped working to take care of her two boys, Frankie and Chuckie. Later in life Brenda worked at J.C. Penney for 18 years, until she retired.
She enjoyed cooking for the family, gardening, watching the Green Bay Packers football games and cruising to car shows with Chuck’s old sportscars. Brenda and Chuck loved going to Florida every year. She enjoyed visiting with friends there. Beyond everything, Brenda’s greatest role was being a good mother to her children and grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a sister, Joyce Wermeling.
She is survived by her husband, Chuck; two sons, Frank (Justine) and Chuckie; a brother, Jim Gooch; sisters, Sally Hall and Penny Andrews; grandchildren, Aaron (Kendra) Rizzo, Brittany (Robert) Mantooth and Caitlyn Rizzo; and a great-grandson, Royce.
The family would like to thank of all the doctors and nurses at The Lombardi Cancer Center.
A visitation for Brenda will be held on Sunday, October 1, 2023, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Proko Funeral Home with closing prayers at 7:00 PM. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii Catholic Church, 2224 45th Street, Kenosha, WI, on October 2, 2023, at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow in St. George Cemetery, Kenosha, WI.
