William F. Schaefer, 65, of Norwalk passed away Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, at the Tomah Veterans Administration hospice unit, with his family at his side, after a 3 ½-year battle with cancer.
William was born to Fred E. and Jeanette (Schotten) Schaefer on a farm near Melvina on Dec. 21, 1948. They moved to the Norwalk area when he was a young boy, and he attended Norwalk Elementary School and then graduated from Brookwood High School in 1967. He then attended Vernon County Teachers College in Viroqua and decided that was not what he wanted to do in life. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1970. After his red-eye missile training, he was sent to Germany for the next year. He returned early when his mom became sick and spent the rest of his time at Camp McCoy until being honorably discharged in 1972. He then worked for the Norwalk Cheese Factory, and then went to work for Sparta Manufacturing until he retired in 2003 at the age of 55.
He married Ida Kuderer on St. Mary’s Ridge, Cashton, on Aug. 7, 1976. Together they had four sons, Fred, Mike, Zach and Pat.
Bill’s retirement years were spent working on his woodcraft projects, antiquing with his wife and road trips with family and friends. He also had some time to spend spoiling his two beautiful grandsons, Aidan and James, to whom he was affectionately known as “Bumpa.” Bill was a member of the American Legion Post 438, a COF of St. Augustine Court and a former member of the Norwalk Lions.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Ida, and his sons, Fredrick (fiancée Kelly Mecum) of Tomah, Michael (Sarah Komorosky) of Melvina, Zachary (Ariane Smolen) of Northfield, Minn., and Patrick of Tomah. He is further survived by his two grandsons, Aidan and James; his sisters, Bette (Steve Stone) and Kathryn (David Brown), both of Norwalk, and Rita Taylor of Tomah; a brother, Duane (Herminia) of San Antonio, Texas; his in-laws, Henry Kuderer (Jeanne Carpenter), Virginia (Orlin) Clark and Eugene (Joan) Kuderer; as well as nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Jeanette; his in-laws, Richard and Marie Kuderer; a sister, Bonita Schaefer; and a brother-in-law, Terry Taylor.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Norwalk. Father Michael Klos will officiate. Family and friends are invited for visitation Friday, Jan. 3, from 4-7 p.m., with a prayer service at 7 p.m., at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Norwalk and again on Saturday from 10 a.m. until the time of service at the church. The Torkelson Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences are available at http://www.torkelsonfuneralhome.com/.
