Mechtild Antonia Calnin

November 3, 1926 - July 24, 2021

Mechtild Antonia Calnin, age 94, of Richland Center, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully on Monday, July 24, 2021, at Oak Park Place, Baraboo, Wisconsin. Mechtild Calnin was born on November 3, 1926, in Nuremberg, Germany to Annie and Arno Drottboom. As a child she enjoyed sports and nature. In her teen years, Mechtild began a formal study of art and design. Her love of nature, art, and design continued throughout her life and was expressed through her vegetable and flower gardens, long walks in nature, house design, and the clothes that she designed and made with her sewing and knitting machines. “Mutti”, (Mom in German), as her children called her, had an undeniable natural talent for design and color, whether for houses, rooms or works of art. Family and friends who asked for design advice knew she would have an opinion! We all knew, final approval from Mutti meant we had gotten it right. Friends and family often gathered with joy to partake of her delicious baked goods and wonderful German meals. Later in life she returned to painting and created beautiful scenes set in nature. Mechtild met her husband, Richard Calnin, in Nuremberg in 1949, where Richard was stationed as an American intelligence officer. They married on January 8, 1953 and relocated to the United States. Mechtild and Richard settled in DePere, Wisconsin where they raised their four sons and taught languages at Saint Norbert College. After retiring from Saint Norbert College in 1981, Mechtild and Richard moved to an eighty acre farm in Richland Center, Wisconsin and converted the barn into a living space and studio. Mechtild moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin a few years after Richard passed away in 2010. Mechtild is survived by four sons, Wolfgang Calnin and his wife Susan of Baraboo, WI, Norbert Calnin and his wife Susan of Richland Center, WI, Roland Calnin and his wife Regina of Suttons Bay, MI, and Tim Calnin and his wife Katherine of Panama City Beach, FL, eight grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Mechtild donated her body to the UW School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. The Calnin family will hold a private memorial service. Memorial donations may be made to Agrace Hospice of Baraboo, Wisconsin. The family would like to thank the staff at Oak Park Place in Baraboo, Wisconsin and Agrace Hospice of Baraboo for their wonderful care, comfort and support. .