Scott Dontje

Scott Dontje, 63, of Appleton passed away in his home with his family by his side on January 3, 2022, after a losing his courageous battle with cancer.

Scott was born in Appleton on February 19, 1958, to Stanley and Patricia (Bohlen) Dontje. Scott graduated from Shiocton High School in 1977. On June 23, 1978, Scott and Beverly (Kieffer) were joined in marriage. Between 1979-1983, Scott and Beverly welcomed their 3 children: Jeremy, Melissa, and Stephanie.

Scott has always worked hard to support his family. He started working as the 2nd shift supervisor for the Hortonville Toy Factory from the time he was still in high school until shortly after graduation. From November 1977 until the fall of 1986, Scott worked as a heavy-duty crane operator for Appleton Machine Company (later known as Valmet, and then Wartsila). In August 1985, Scott began a new adventure by opening D&D 24 Hour Towing. He has certainly been successful as that business is still going strong 37 years later.

In 1988, Scott found his calling to serve not only his family, but also his community, and joined the Town of Grand Chute Volunteer Fire Department from 1988-1997. But that wasn’t enough for him. His need to help others was so great that he joined the Town of Grand Chute Police Department in 1991, where he served as an officer for 23 years until his retirement in 2014.

In his retirement, Scott yearned for that feeling of service he had been doing for so long. After his very brief retirement, he went back into police work; first, as bailiff for the Town of Grand Chute from 2014-2018, then for the Village of Black Creek Police Department as a part-time officer from 2014 until his final retirement in February 2020.

Some of Scott’s favorite things to do were shooting the breeze and having a few beers with friends, to hunt and fish, many years of snowmobiling, going down to the shooting range with his brothers-and-sisters in blue, shopping for his grandchildren at the Dollar Tree, and spending as much of his free-time as possible with his family at his cottage in Mountain, WI.

Scott was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He would’ve given you the very shirt off his back or his last dollar if he thought that would help you. He is so very loved and will be missed by so many. Another beautiful person who has left us far too soon.

Scott is survived by his loving wife Beverly, son; Jeremy Dontje, daughters; Melissa (Mike) Dawes and Stephanie (Jason) Spitzmacher, his grandchildren; Madyson Latham, Alana and Mariah Dawes, Kylie, Brandt, and Cole Spitzmacher, his parents; Stanley and Patricia Dontje, and his brothers; Todd (Karen) Dontje, Dan (Cindy) Dontje, Tim (Connie) Dontje, and Jamie (Jessica) Dontje.

Services will be held on Sunday, January 9, 2022. Visitation will be from 8am to 11am with service to follow at Valley Funeral Home, Appleton, Wisconsin.

The family would like to send a special thank you to Scott’s nurse, Kaitlyn Borman, and the staff at Compassus hospice care. Thank you for all you’ve done to help Scott and our family.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Scott’s name to the Outagamie County K-9 team at https://barknblue.org/donations/outamie-county-k9/

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