LseTrib: Spunky Independence WI native donates $500,000 for elevator addition to church

At 88, Adeline Kulig Puccini remains spunkier than a cherub on Christmas Eve, with a devilish twinkle in her eye when asked where she got the half-million dollars to pay for an addition, including an elevator, for the church where she was baptized.

“None of your business,” Puccini said with a mischievous smile during an interview Friday, in advance of the dedication and celebration Sunday of her gift to Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Independence.

A knowledgeable fly on a pew hinted that Puccini had done well with investments.

Puccini, who has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and a master’s from Northwestern University, confessed as much a few minutes later, saying, “I had a 40-year career as a speech pathologist. I’m vested well.”

So was her husband, the late Navy Capt. Joe Puccini, a Top Gun aviator, she said, adding quickly and firmly, “This is my charity. His charities are in Texas.”

continue at La Crosse Tribune

If you are following along at home, Sts. Peter and Paul is also undergoing a good renovation (as opposed to those popular 1970's hack wreckovations).