Pielhop helps Brillion ‘grow’

September 28, 2017

By David Nordby The Brillion News

BRILLION – Bob Endries once said publicly that he would have hired Sarah Pielhop to work for him had she been alive and in Brillion years prior. If the timelines had worked out, Pielhop likely would have said yes, and been an asset, like she has been for so many other things around the city since moving to Brillion in August 2010.

“It’s not about me,” Pielhop says convincingly as she speaks about doing it all to help grow the community.

Pielhop has been involved with the Brillion Optimist Club, is on the board of Brillion Area Family of Funds, a member of the parks and recreation committee, helped create the idea of an indoor splash pad at the community center and now has helped restart grow FOUNDATION, Inc., a non-profit originally put together by a list of Brillion citizens.

With all the projects, Pielhop has earned a reputation for her dedication. She stays busy, but doesn’t look at her community efforts as work.

“I think for me it’s just a social thing,” Pielhop said. “You just get to know people … Just talk to people. It’s just fun.”

Pielhop’s personal life is diversified, too. She’s a funeral director for Wieting Funeral Homes in Brillion. She says it’s where she meets so many people in the community and helps take the family on “journeys” to help say good-bye to loved ones. “I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she says.

In 2010, she was ready for a change, and after turning down an initial offer because she wasn’t ready to move on her own, she ended up working for Fuzzy and Kathy.

“It just clicked,” she says. “They’re wonderful people … They’re connected to the community.”

The other part needed for her move to Brillion involved her soon-to-be husband Jason. The two were married on December 31, 2011, and now have two children, Julia, who is four-years old, and Nora, who is three-years old. Jason is a firefighter and volunteers in Brillion.

In Brillion, she sees the ability to give to her children what she had growing up in Manitowoc. “We lived at the park. I want my kids to be able to bike everywhere and I want the people in the neighborhood to know who my kids are,” Pielhop said.

One of the people Pielhop quickly became close with in the community is Tammy Koehler, who is president of the Optimist Club.

“I haven’t really met another Brillion-ite, in my time frame, that has taken on – or is even willing to take on – as much community stuff as she has,” Koehler said.

Pielhop came up with the idea for the Walk Through Brillion event that drew hundreds last year, and will again this year on October 28.

“Sarah just keeps going and going and going. I care about the community doing good things too, but, she is just like, tenacious. She’s a person that you share your opinion with and she really takes it to heart. She really thinks about it and will maybe take ideas from what you’ve said,” Koehler explains.

Please see the complete feature, with information on the grow FOUNDATION, in the September 28, 2017 edition of The Brillion News.