STURGEON BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Nobody would blame John Wehausen if he spent his days sulking over the loss of his wife Kay and the cruelty of the last years of her life living with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Instead, he gathers with his children every year to participate in the Walk To End Alzheimer’s in hopes that no family would suffer like his.

The Alzheimer’s Association in Door County is celebrating this past weekend’s annual walk to end Alzheimer’s.

Now, the real fundraising begins.

Walkers take home a flower with them and display it in their neighborhood or workplace. The flower is a symbol of their personal connection to Alzheimer’s and a reminder of the need for money to keep research going and support caregivers. They will be collecting donations until the end of the year.

Local 5 is a proud media partner for the event, with anchor Michele McCormack serving as emcee.

She met Wehausen and his children, who came up from the Milwaukee area.

They call their team “Kay’s Kitchen.”

John said he knew Kay would continue to support their efforts.

“She would be all for it,” John said. “I know that. I know she didn’t know what was going on at the time that she had this. But I still loved her.”

The Alzheimer’s Association is the largest non-profit funder of research in the world, with 1,000 research projects taking place in 54 countries.

Now, there are FDA-approved treatments that can change the course of Alzheimer’s in a meaningful way for people in the early stages of the disease. And there are more treatments in
the pipeline.

Organizers of the walk say we are in a new era of treatments and hope, and that is a reason to celebrate!