The widow of Herbert V. Kohler Jr. held several key posts for the plumbing giant and the Kohler Foundation’s philanthropic endeavors.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
Natalie Black Kohler, who served as general counsel and senior vice president of corporate communications of Kohler Co., led the Kohler Foundation, and sat on the company’s board of directors, died at her home in Oostburg, WI, on Sept.10. She was 74.
She will be remembered as a passionate and purposeful individual, devoted to her family, her dogs, and her husband, Herbert V. Kohler Jr., whom she married in 1988. Herbert passed away in 2022 at the age of 83. Natalie’s 33-year career at Kohler Co. included her role as general counsel, protecting the company’s legal interests worldwide, guiding Kohler through significant global expansion and unprecedented growth through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and ensuring its privately held status through a historic stock recapitalization.
As SVP of corporate communications, she established The Beacon, Kohler Co.’s state-of-the-art global communications headquarters — a modern architectural masterpiece serving as a brick-and-mortar culmination of her career-long passion for promoting and elevating the flagship label as an aspirational brand. Among her memorable achievements were the avant-garde As I See It advertising campaigns, a string of Most Remembered Exhibit Booth honors at KBIS, and the Kohler Design Center, a showcase of artistic products, breakthrough design ideas, and unique company history. Natalie and her husband were inducted into the Wisconsin Advertising Hall of Fame in 2019.
She served on the Kohler Co. board from 1987 to 2022, and as a member, then president, of the Kohler Foundation from 1998 to 2022.
Natalie Black was born on Dec. 19, 1949, in Bakersfield, CA, to Eugene and Ann Black. She received an A.B. degree in economics and mathematics from Stanford University in 1972 and graduated magna cum laude from Marquette University Law School in 1978. She was also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development in 1982. Natalie joined Kohler Co. in 1981 as a member of the Legal Department after working since 1978 as an attorney with the Milwaukee law firm of Quarles & Brady, specializing in securities and general corporate work.
In addition to her roles at Kohler Co., Natalie was active on numerous professional boards and organizations, including membership in the American, Wisconsin, and Sheboygan County Bar Associations; Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Law Departments for the Section on Business Law of the American Bar Association, and on the Board of Trustees for Marquette University from 1993 to 2013. She served on the board for Johnson Controls Inc. from 1998 to 2018; was a member of the policy advisory board of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University since 1991; was on the board of trustees for the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1997 to 2009 and on boards of the Sheboygan County YMCA and The Milwaukee Ballet Company.
Known for her curiosity and many interests, Natalie was a passionate reader with a deep love of fiction and a dedication to female authors. Believing fundamentally in the power and importance of reading, Natalie started the Black Spring Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on literacy, education, hunger, and animal welfare. She gave generously to these causes, focusing much of her philanthropic efforts on Sheboygan County and providing substantial funding to the Sheboygan County Food Bank, Sheboygan County Humane Society, and Sheboygan Public Education Foundation. She will be remembered for her emphasis on the importance of giving back to one’s community by her step-grandchildren, whom she involved in her philanthropy from their young age.
In addition to her husband, Natalie was predeceased by her parents; her sister, Denise Gross; nephew Derek Rhodehouse; brother-in-law, Frederic Kohler, and sister-in-law Ruth DeYoung Kohler II. She is survived by her sister, Jennifer (Bill) Westbrook; niece Stacey Westbrook; two stepdaughters, Laura Kohler (Steve Proudman), and Rachel Kohler (Mark Hoplamazian), and stepson, David Kohler (Nina). She is further survived by 10 step-grandchildren, and three step-great-grandchildren.
A website celebrating Natalie’s life and accomplishments will be available soon.
A private service is being held with burial at Woodland Cemetery in Kohler. In lieu of flowers, donations in Natalie’s name can be made to Black Spring Foundation or the Sheboygan County Food Bank.
