Jeffrey Otterson, age 67, of Madison, WI, passed away on Wednesday, December 30, 2020.

A private family service will be held at a later date.

Jeffrey was born July 24, 1953 in Whitehall, WI, the son of Lester and Florence (Knutson) Otterson. Jeff grew up in Blair, WI and was a gifted athlete in football, basketball, baseball and softball. After graduation he had a variety of jobs across the country; security guard in Beloit, Glazier in Texas and Phoenix, landscape artist in Las Vegas, mechanic in Seattle, but the most impressive job was over the road truck driver logging over 2.5 million miles accident free. While on layover in Madison, WI, his pen fell in a phone book, right above the name of his high school sweetheart, Karen Stubrud. They reunited in 2000 and married December 27, 2001 in Las Vegas, which was the anniversary of their first date, December 27, 1969, which landed them in a ditch due to snowy roads. Jeff missed his true calling of life by not becoming a veterinarian. He had a love of all animals, but especially dogs. Karen called him the dog whisperer because dogs loved him, even the ones that were supposedly vicious. Jeff had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone unless you lost his trust. Losing his trust, you lost his loyalty and a good friend. He will be sadly missed by those who got to know the 'Real' Jeff.

Jeffrey is survived by his mother, Florence; his wife of 19 years, Karen; children, Thomas, (Rachel) KariAnne and Joe; former wife, Mary of the Phoenix area; step-children, Aaron Johnson of Madison and Olivia Johnson of Wisconsin Dells; grandchildren, Annika and Annalise Otterson and grandson, Isaiah Chavez (who was the light pride and joy of his life. They spent many hours together having very deep conversations. Jeff used to say Isaiah is way beyond his 12 years of age); brother, Les (Vicki); sister, Carla and youngest brother, Kevin (Traci); nephews, Lars (Stefanie), Hans (Jovan) and Brett; nieces, Shannon (Cody) Fichter and Kylie (Louis) Ives. Jeff is also survived by several aunts and uncles, cousins as well as his fur babies, Molly and Lola. He was preceded in death by his father, Lester; his maternal and paternal grandparents and many fur babies, but the most important ones are Slurppy, Raven and Shadow.

Donations may be made to the family, animal rescue of your choice or American Diabetes Association.