Surnames: Schwanebeck, Rennhack, Jacobson, Bretl, Winker, Jesperson, Ward, Hahn

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) May 21, 2008

Schwanebeck, Lester F. (1 July 1923 - 13 May 2008)

LESTER F. SCHWANEBECK

With Flag

PITTSVILLE -- Lester F. Schwanebeck, 84, of N495 Badger Ave., Pittsville, died at 10:26 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 17, at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the town of Sherwood. The Rev. Tom Hahn will officiate.

Burial will be in Sherwood Cemetery. Lester's grandsons will serve as pallbearers. Military rites will be conducted by American Legion Post No. 153.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Buchanan Funeral Home in Pittsville and from 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church. A prayer service will be at 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.

He was born July 1, 1923, in Clark County, to Paul and Anna (Rennhack) Schwanebeck. He married Dorothy Jacobson on Feb. 15, 1945, at the St. John's Lutheran parsonage in Pittsville.

Lester received his education at Dewhurst School in Sherwood. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, receiving his honorable discharge in 1945. He worked on area moss and cranberry marshes. He was employed at Roddis Door Company in Marshfield. From 1957 to his retirement in 1986, Lester worked at Consolidated Paper in Wisconsin Rapids.

Lester enjoyed farming and continued to farm in the town of Sherwood until the present time. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Lester was a loving husband and father. He enjoyed visiting with family, friends and neighbors. He loved to take scenic roadtrips.

Surviving are his wife, Dorothy Schwanebeck, Pittsville; children, Arnold (Linda) Schwanebeck, Pittsville, Patsy (Richard) Bretl, Wisconsin Rapids, Lee (Cheairee) Schwanebeck, Pittsville, Dennis (Peggi) Schwanebeck, Pittsville; daughter-in-law, Colleen Schwanebeck, Pittsville; 15 grandchildren, Paul, Bryan, Adam, Kristina, Kelli, Jessica, Luke, Mike, Matthew, Mark, Summer, Ben, Tyler, Heather and Steve; and 17 great-grandchildren.

He is further survived by his sisters and brother, Irma (Lawrence) Winker, Milwaukee, Lorraine (Howard) Jesperson, Morristown, N.J., and Milden (Jean) Schwanebeck, Pittsville; and his sister-in-law, Loretta Schwanebeck Ward, Rockford, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Raymond; a grandson, Anthony; and a brother, Theodore.