O'Keeffe Family - Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church and Cemetery

Continue north on North Street and turn right onto Windsor Street. Make a right turn at the intersection with Bristol Street and in approximately 500 feet turn left onto Cliff Street. At the end of Cliff Street is the Sun Prairie Water Tower, built in 1899. Turn left onto Columbus Street to view the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church at 221 Columbus Street. The O’Keeffe family were founding members and Pierce O’Keeffe, Georgia’s grandfather, was a trustee of the church. Pierce and his family attended weekly services in their own family pew. The church building seen today was constructed in 1921, after Georgia’s time in Sun Prairie.

Continue north on Columbus Street and proceed to Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery. Here lies Georgia’s father, three uncles, and paternal grandparents.

Many of Georgia’s ancestors are buried in two cemeteries in Sun Prairie and Madison. Georgia’s paternal grandparents and three uncles of Irish Catholic background are buried in the O’Keeffe family plots of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery in Sun Prairie. Georgia’s mother, sister Ida, maternal grandmother, and several of her maternal aunts are buried in the Totto family section of the Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.^[1] Georgia was cremated when she died in 1986, with her ashes scattered on Cerro Pedernal near her Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.^[2]

Georgia’s work and her family ensured that Wisconsin remained part of Georgia’s life long after leaving Sun Prairie. When she visited Madison in 1942 to receive an honorary degree from the University of Wisconsin,^[3] Georgia was also photographed in front of the Town Hall School. Shortly after Georgia received the Wisconsin Governor’s Award for Creativity in the Arts in 1966,^[4] she and her sister Catherine stood for a photo in front of their childhood home.

Georgia also corresponded with Sun Prairie leaders that, on at least three occasions, asked that she gift a painting to the city.^[5] When Georgia declined Sun Prairie’s 1976 invitation to attend the dedication of a park to be named in her honor, some city leaders viewed her as unworthy of having the park in her name.^[6] Within about six months a petition was circulated to rename the park “after persons residing locally who have made appreciable contributions to the betterment of life in Sun Prairie.” O’Keeffe Park was officially dedicated as Sheehan Park in February 1977.^[7] As years passed, Sun Prairie leaders realized that the requests for art and for Georgia’s attendance were inappropriately demanding of her. In 1978, Sun Prairie Mayor Robert E. Schaben issued a proclamation declaring November 15, 1978 as Georgia O’Keeffe Day. In the ensuing decades, the city has fully embraced Georgia O’Keeffe’s legacy with the naming of O’Keeffe Avenue and continuing recognition of her Sun Prairie roots.

^[1] O’Keeffe Family: Georgia O’Keeffe’s ancestors, siblings and Sun Prairie relatives. Research compiled by Dee Theisen, Sun Prairie Historical Library and Museum, 2022.

^[2] Reily, Nancy Hopkins. Georgia O'Keeffe, a Private Friendship, Part II - Walking the Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch Land. Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2009, p. 465.

^[3] Sullivan, Mrs. James. “41 Years Ago O’Keeffe Family Left Sun Prairie, State Lost Famed Artist.” The Capital Times, April 4, 1943.

^[4] Wisconsin Historical Society, Image ID 115812, Viewed online at https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM115812 on 5/29/2024.

^[5] SPHLM Object ID B1453, Georgia O’Keeffe Correspondence dated 1968, 1972, and 1976. Sun Prairie Historical Library & Museum.

^[6] Chicago Tribune (Chicago) October 16, 1987. 

^[7] Star Countryman (Sun Prairie), January 13, 1977.

^[8] Star Countryman (Sun Prairie), February 24, 1977.