Our Staff

Mark Zimmer

Licensed Funeral Director

Mark attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated from Worsham’s College of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1977. Mark moved to the Sheboygan area in 1983 after purchasing the former Ahrens Funeral Home in Howards Grove. In 1996, he acquired the former Gerend-Habermann Funeral Home in Sheboygan. In 2003, work was completed on the new 9500 sq ft. Westview Funeral & Cremation Care Center. Ballhorn Chapels became part of the company in 2014. Mark is a member of Pine Hills Country Club and is a Master Mason with the Sheboygan Blue Lodge #11. Mark is a past president of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association where he continues to serve on the committee and a past president of the Lakeshore Funeral Directors Association, as well as former president of the Howards Grove Lions Club and Sheboygan Jay Cees. He is past chairman of the Sheboygan County Lions Eye Bank and was on the advisory committee for the Milwaukee Eye Institute. He also is a former member of the board of directors for the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce and the Salvation Army. He is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Howards Grove LCMS, and is a past board member of the Sheboygan County Chaplaincy. Mark and his wife, Debra, live in Howards Grove. He enjoys volunteer work on community projects, restoring vintage cars and gardening.

Fawn Schaefer

Licensed Funeral Director/Manager

Nicole Arnhoelter

Licensed Funeral Director

Nicole is a Sheboygan native and graduated from Sheboygan Falls High School in 2004. She knew early on in life that her calling was to serve her community during one of the most sensitive times of their lives. In 2016, Nicole graduated from Milwaukee Area Technical College with a degree in mortuary science. After serving her apprenticeship with Wittkopp Funeral & Cremation Services in Plymouth, she then joined the Ballhorn Chapels & Zimmer Westview team in January of 2018.

Family is extremely important to Nicole, and any of her spare time is spent with her husband and four children. She also enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and volunteering within the community. 

Ean Sinn

Licensed Funeral Director

Ean grew up in Trimont, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in mortuary science. After graduation, Ean worked in Minnesota until relocating to the Sheboygan area to be closer to his fiancée’s family who live near Howards Grove.

Ean’s interest in funeral service began as a junior in high school when he job shadowed at his local funeral home for a class assignment. Since then, he has seen the positive impact funeral professionals have on families at the end of their loved one’s life and is determined to help families in any way he can.

Ean loves spending time with his fiancée, family, friends, and new Golden Retriever named Dolly.

Tracy Smith

Administrative Specialist

Tracy has worked in the customer service and accounts receivable and payable fields most of her adult life after graduating from high school. Along with training and learning skills on the job, she has completed classes in Microsoft Word and Excel at UW Sheboygan College. She has been working at Ballhorn Chapels since January 2005.

In 1997, Tracy married Todd, and they have a daughter who lives in California. Tracy and Todd spend most summers camping and traveling to different campgrounds in Wisconsin, enjoying the outdoors with family and friends. Tracy likes to stay active with various activities such as running, working out at a local gym, and playing volleyball. She is also interested in gardening.

Becky Thiessen

Office Manager/Apprentice Funeral Director

Becky was born and raised in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area. She is married to her husband, Chuck, and together they have a blended family of four children: Alex and Claire, and Alex and Allison. They also have two dogs and two cats. Becky has her Funeral Director Apprenticeship and is the Office Manager. She truly enjoys helping families. 

In her spare time, Becky likes spending time with her family and playing on several volleyball teams.  

Dorothy McElroy

Advance Funeral Planner

Dorothy McElroy grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She graduated from the University of Green Bay in 2019. Dorothy is a grief support specialist and a certified End of Life Doula. She has over 20 years of sales experience.

Dorothy has had many personal experiences with death, beginning with losing her mother at age 17. Dorothy is a widow, losing her husband suddenly and unexpectedly when their son was 7 years old. She and her son, Wyatt, founded a non-profit organization that honors his legacy. They raise money for families affected by grief and trauma through archery events where participants “slay dragons,” shooting at creative paper dragon targets.

As a USA Archery Instructor, Dorothy teaches grief therapy through archery with her Dancing Arrow Club. She also volunteers at summer grief camps as a grief support specialist with various organizations.

Dorothy has a favorite quote from the movie I Never Sang For My Father:

 “Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind toward some final resolution, some clear meaning, which it perhaps never finds.”

Allen VanDeLoo

Funeral Assistant

Allen was born and raised in Sheboygan and is a longtime employee of St. Nicholas Hospital. In 2008, he joined the funeral home family as a Funeral Director Assistant. He is a dedicated member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan and was an active member of the Sheboygan Jaycees for over fifteen years. Allen lives the creed he learned in the Jaycees that “Service to humanity is the best work of life.” 

Scott Johnson

Funeral Assistant/Apprentice Funeral Director

Scott was born and raised in the Sheboygan area and graduated from Sheboygan North in 1981. He has two children: Derek and Madeline. Scott has been a telephone technician for O & W Communications since 1988. His work in funeral service began in 2016 as a funeral assistant. In 2019, he received his license as a funeral apprentice.

With a huge heart, Scott is always willing to help family, friends, and anyone who could use a helping hand. His compassion and kindness carry over to funeral service, ensuring that all families have what they need and feel cared for. Scott resides in Elkhart Lake and is an active member of the Elkhart Lake Fire Department. In his spare time, he enjoys almost anything outdoors such as hunting, fishing, kayaking, and walks along the water. Scott is also an avid photographer and enjoys finding the beauty in the small things each and every day.  

Julian Jetzer

Funeral Assistant

Julian is a longtime resident of the Sheboygan area. In 1958, he began his broadcasting career with WHBL in Sheboygan. He also owned and operated Central Photo Company for a brief period in the 1970s and was manager of the Louise Sills Commercial Photography Division before purchasing Central Photo from the Sills Corporation. In 2000, Julian retired from radio broadcasting when he sold his radio stations, WKTS/WXER in Sheboygan and WGBM in Green Bay. He served as Secretary for the Sheboygan Downtown Association and was on the Sheboygan Area United Way Board of Directors. Julian currently serves as the Technical Director for the Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan. He and his wife, Jane, recently moved from their retirement home at Pigeon Lake in Manitowoc County to Howards Grove.

Jerry Kamp

Funeral Assistant

Jerry and his wife, Barb, live in Sheboygan Falls. They have four grown children; three live in the Sheboygan area and one lives near Knoxville, TN. Jerry's career began in banking and moved into health care management. He retired from Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg, MO, in 2013. Upon his retirement, Jerry and Barb moved back to the Sheboygan area to be near their five grandsons. Jerry enjoys playing golf and watching his grandsons' sporting events. 

Ken Rishel

Funeral Assistant

Ken was born and raised in Sheboygan, where he attended school at Sheboygan North and graduated in 1976. Ken went to UW-Sheboygan and then to UW Milwaukee. In 1983, he married Brenda Duessing, and they have two wonderful children, Amber and Aaron, both of Sheboygan. Besides helping as a Funeral Assistant, Ken also is an independent agent for a logistics company, works as a Karaoke Host/DJ for Top Shelf DJs & Karaoke, and is President of the Sheboygan County Warming Shelter for the Homeless in Sheboygan County. Ken enjoys shooting darts in the winter and playing golf in the summer. He started working for Ballhorn Chapels/Zimmer Westview in May of 2018. 

Doug Hasenstein

Funeral Assistant

John Stephen

Funeral Assistant/Maintenance

John has three children and eight grandchildren, and he truly enjoys spending time with his family. He tries to attend as many of his grandchildren's activities as possible. John retired from Hexion Chemical in 2014 and is keeping busy in his retirement. He is an active member of his church, Zion ECC, in Sheboygan and is Secretary of Treasury for the Howards Grove Lions Club. 

Rob Perl

Maintenance

Rob is on the maintenance team for Zimmer Westview/ Ballhorn Chapels. He was born and raised in Sheboygan, and he has two children, Robert III (Bobby) and Victoria (Tori). Rob enjoys spending his free time with his children and doing woodworking projects. In 1999, he established Perl Home Improvements. 

Mike Burch

Funeral Assistant

Mary Jane Tauschek

Funeral Assistant

Mary Jane is originally from Woodstock, IL. Her family moved to Wisconsin when her father was in the service. He passed away when Mary Jane was eleven, so she helped her mother look after her younger siblings. Throughout the years, Mary Jane had various jobs, but her passion was to run her own bed and breakfast. She and her husband, Steven, worked hard to make that dream come true, owning and operating a bed and breakfast for fourteen years.

Mary Jane has one son and three granddaughters who are her pride and joy. She also has a dog named Harley.

Bobby Lewis

Funeral Assistant

Bobby has lived in Sheboygan for thirteen years. During that time, he has worked as a personal care worker for ten years and at another local funeral home for four years. He also has experience working in cleaning at several local businesses.

Bobby enjoys doing volunteer work at the local food pantry. His faith as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is important to him, and he considers his work to be an example of those values.  

Jim Kolb

Funeral Assistant

Jim was born and raised in Sheboygan. After graduating from Sheboygan South High, he joined the Army and served both stateside and in Germany.  Upon leaving active duty, Jim joined the active reserves and spent another seven years in the military.

Jim and his wife, Melody, have two adult daughters, Sarah and Jessica. He spent the majority of his working years in the information technology field.  He retired from Thrivent Financial, where he managed all of the corporate data centers and the staff that supported them.

As a long-time member of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Sheboygan, Jim enjoys singing in the Chancel Choir and Men’s Choir.

Curtis Wuestenhagen

Funeral Assistant

Curt is a native of Sheboygan Falls and graduated from Sheboygan Falls High School. In 1984, he moved to the West Coast. While in California, he furthered his education, obtained his life insurance license, and worked for a major insurance company. He then went on to work as an Administrative Assistant and Sexton at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church. 

Recently returning to his hometown, Curt joined our staff in 2021 and attends Fountain Park United Methodist Church. He enjoys spending time with his family, being outdoors, and cooking German food. Curt is proud to be a part of serving families in their time of need.