Obit: Debevec, Robert  (1920 - 2010)

Contact: Audrey Roedl

Email: audero@charter.net

Surnames: Debevec, Zevnik, Gutt, Oelhafen, Hisey, Marksteiner, Schultze

----Source: The Loyal TRG  (Loyal, Clark County, Wis. 13 Jan 2010)

Debevec, Robert  (06 JUNE 1920-04 JAN 2010)

Robert F. Debevec, 89, Willard, died on Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, at his home. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m., on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Willard. The Rev. Joseph Follmar officiated. Burial followed in the parish cemetery. Eight of his grandchildren served as pallbearers. His good friends, Bill Bogdonovich and Butch Ulesich, served as honorary pallbearers.

Robert Frank Debevec was born on June 6, 1920, in Willard, to Anton and Mary (nee Zevnik) Debevec. He was raised on the family farm and received his education in Willard. He graduated from Greenwood High School in 1939. After completing high school, he remained on the farm until enlisting in the U. S. Air Force on Jan. 7, 1942. He served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater as an airplane mechanic. After his honorable discharge on Jan. 12, 1946, he returned to Willard to farm with his father. He married Josephine M. Gutt on Dec, 13, 1947, in Brookfield, Ill. They resided in Chicago, where he worked as a mechanic for UPS. In 1952, they moved to Willard and took over the operation of his family farm. He also owned and operated Willard Farm & Auto during the 1970s. In 1989, he sold his milk cows and began raising beef cattle until retiring in 1998. His wife, Jo, passed away on Feb. 12, 2004. He continued to live on the farm until his death.

He was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church, the Slovenska Druzba Club and a former of the National Farmers Organization. He had a wonderful sense of humor and many interests, but especially enjoyed his dog, Lassie, reading, mechanics, bowling, and playing pinochle. He was an avid Green Bay Packers fan and baseball enthusiast, unfortunately, the Chicago Cubs were his team of choice.

He will be dearly missed by his children, Susan Debevec, Windsor, Conn; Sandra (Parks) Debevec Hisey, Chicago; Marjorie (Dave) Debevec-Marksteiner, Marshfield; and Laura (Darrell) Debevec Schultze, Willard; a son-in-law, Dan Oelhafen, Neillsville; 10 grandchildren, Sasha and Evan Debevec-McKenny, Mica Debevec (fiancé John Miranda), Sara (Jesse) Marsh, Stacey (Jamie) Petit, Nathan Tytor, Valorie (Jeff) Deegan, Ronald (Janelle) Thomas, Dave Thomas, and April (Brad) Schmidt; eight grear-grandchildren, Ryan, Kaylyn, Jaelyn, Lauryn, Addisyn, and Carsyn Thomas, and Caleigh and Marissa Schmidt; one brother, Raymond (Laverne) Debevec, Pasco, Wash.; two sisters-in-law, Dolores Debevec, Berthoud, Colo. and Agnes Debevec, Greenwood; and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding him in death were his parents; his wife, Jo; his son, Ronald, on Sept. 19, 1967; two daughters, Joanne Oelhafen, on Jan. 28, 1998, and Arlene Debevec, on June 2, 2008; four brothers, Anton Jr., Charles, Frank, and Ralph; two sisters, Mary Racovec and Eleanor Fale; and siblings, William and Rosie, both in infancy.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.cuddiefh.com. Memorials can also be made in his honor to the Clark County Humane Society, W3926 Hwy.73, Neillsville, WI 54456.

Cuddie Funeral Home, Greenwood, assisted the family with arrangements.