Richard “Dick” Stauss, age 87 of Hortonville, passed away peacefully with the care of his loving wife and Moments Hospice on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
He was at home in a hospital bed for the last 10 months. He had several heart and health problems. Having medical problems is not a license to be ill tempered, so he tried to make worker’s lives brighter and to smile and laugh while in/out of the hospital the last few years. Saddened with the death of his daughter-in-law, Jennifer on August 14, 2023.
Dick was born on January 15, 1936 in Marshfield, WI to the late Arthur and Regina (Linzmaier) Stauss. At the age of six months the family moved to Butternut, WI, where he thoroughly enjoyed his childhood even though everyone in the northern town was “poor” and kids didn’t know it at the time. In September of 1947, at the age of 11 1/2, the family moved to Hampton, South Carolina because of his father’s job. Dick had many new kid experiences. In February of 1950, the family moved to Oshkosh, WI. Dick graduated from Oshkosh High School in 1954 with 460 students, when there was only one high school and also attended college in Oshkosh. In March of 1957, he started working at Wisconsin Tissue Mill (WTM) now essity in Neenah/Menasha. Dick was a Charter Member of WTM’s Credit Union in 1958.
On January 25, 1958, he married Lois Pingel at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Oshkosh. After starting at the bottom job, he had a series of promotions and became the Production Manager of WTM Plant #2 and retired after 39 years. His strong work ethic can be traced back to his childhood, when he delivered newspapers in Butternut at age 8. He passed his strong work ethic onto his children, who he was very proud of.
After living in Menasha for 6 years, they moved to a home they built in Neenah near WTM Plant #2. He enjoyed camping with his young family and traveled to many states,national parks and private campgrounds beginning with tenting, a truck camper, a van, a smaller motor home and eventually a larger motor home in retirement. They had a lot of fun camping with a large family group from St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church of Neenah. Dick was a Cub Scout Leader. He served on several committees at St. Gabriel and SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church, one of which was parish council president and the committee to build a new church, which was completed in 2004. After living in Menasha and Neenah, Lois and Dick purchased a farm in 1971 and moved to rural Hortonville, where they farmed and raised beef cattle, along with working at WTM. In 1983, they sold their cattle and rented out the land, then purchased a 6-unit apartment building in New London, which they maintained for 30 years.
He was a jack of all trades and could build or repair just about anything and also built their Neenah home. Dick possessed great knowledge, did two crossword puzzles per day, had boundless knowledge of ALL sports facts, especially when it came to the Packers, Badgers, baseball and NASCAR. He attended the Ice Bowl on December 31, 1967, where he and his friend helped tear the goal posts down, and was a Packer’s shareholder. Dick enjoyed all sports! He enjoyed deer hunting and nature in general. His grandchildren (even the girls) got a deer on the farm. Dick had the pleasure of hunting elk and antelope several times in the 1980’s. He loved the sunrise and sunsets- “their paradize on the hill”. Dick put on many miles on the snowmobile and bicycle. He was a volunteer firefighter for 14 years with the Hortonville-Hortonia Fire Department and served as chairman of Hortonia Board of Appeals for over 39 years. He and Lois spent a lot of their lives dancing and went to Polka Fests year round (with motor home or motel) and had dancing friends all over the country. Dick learned to dance at an early age, as his brother began playing the accordion at age eight in a small tavern dance hall up north. He could talk to anyone and make friends anywhere they went.
Dick retired from WTM in March of 1996 after 39 years. He and Lois traveled extensively afterward, including a three month trip to Alaska in their motor home in 1996, visited 47 states in their lifetime, hiked the Grand Canyon (4 days) from north to south rim, hiked up Mt. Whitney in California, traveled to Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, all Canadian Provinces, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Figi. Winters (22) were spent in Mesa, AZ and one year in Florida. Mesa was a mecca area for dancing with many friends, while they wintered in Towerpoint Resort. He did a lot of woodworking in a wood shop fully equipped at the resort, making many sizes of segmented bowls, which were turned on a lathe using wood from black walnut trees that had to be cut down in 1994. After retirement in 1996, they committed nearly every weekday to the New London Pool (when in New London), where they made many new friends. Dick and Lois made an impressive team with their 65 1/2 year love story, which included their family, religion, years of hard work, fun times and many adventures. They loved being together and able to pick-up at a moments notice to go- constantly “on the go”. Dick was a loving husband, father and friend. He led by example and was blessed to have such a wonderful family. He had a wonderful; journey down the highway of life with its many wonderful; pleasures in our great country- USA.
After 48 years on the farm in the Township of Hortonia, Dick and Lois sold the farm in March 2020 and moved into the Village of Hortonville to a two bedroom apartment in a 16-unit building after MUCH “downsizing”. This was just days before the Covid-19 virus “stay at home” order went into effect.
Dick is survived by his wife, Lois; five children, Randall Stauss, Craig Stauss, Cindy (Jeffery) Abhold, Wendy (Craig) Panos and Tina (Michael) Larsen; grandchildren, Samantha and Tyler (Glory) Stauss, Joe, Josh and Jake (Megan) Abhold, Jessica (Casey) Simonis, Alexi and Demitri Panos and Adrian Larsen; great-grandchildren, Landon, Garrett, Bryleigh Abhold and Rhett and Hazel Simonis, with another coming in September. He is further survived by his brother-in-law, Paul Halverson; nieces and nephews, Steve (Terry) Stauss, Krisan (Bob) Williams, Lisa (Jesse) Gander, and Jeff (Jennifer) Halverson, along with several great-nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends.
Dick was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Daniel Stauss and his wife, Kerene; nephew, David Stauss; father and mother-in-law, Adolph and Theda Pingel; step father-in-law, Julius Wismer; daughter-in-law, Jennifer Stauss and sisters-in-law, Judy (Pingel) Schwander and Pat (Pingel) Halverson.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Hortonville with Fr. Phil Schoofs officiating. Family and friends can visit at the church from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the Mass. Burial will be in Clayton Cemetery (7890 Cty Rd T) Larsen.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Talbot, Dr. Slovick, Lisa Urbaniakk APNP, Dr. Varghese, Dr. Enoh, Misty Johnson, the many hospital doctors and others at Heart & Vascular Institute. A special thank you for the compassionate care from Moment’s Hospice, especially Cassie, Malissa, Micki, Sophia and Megan and the wonderful supporting staff at SS Peter & Paul Parish.
Borchardt Moder Funeral Home
109 W. Main St
Hortonville, WI 54944
920-779-4588
www.borchardtmoderfuneralhomes.com