Obit: Drescher, Josephine Lois (1919 - 2016)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Drescher Fortuna, Slemec, Watenpuhl, Silkey, Bjerke

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/27/2016

Drescher, Josephine Lois (16 June 1919 - 21 January 2016)

Josephine Drescher, 96, of Neillsville died Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, at the Neillsville Care and Rehabilitation Center.

Josephine Lois Slemec was born June 16, 1919, in Willard, the daughter of Joseph and Francis (Fortuna) Slemec. She worked on the farm, finished the ninth grade and then moved to Chicago, IL, and got a job there. June 30, 1945, she was united in marriage to Lawrence Drescher in Chicago, after he had returned from serving in WWII. They moved back to Neillsville and had three children: Virginia and Jim of Eau Claire, Tom and Debbie of Neillsville and Steve and Karen of Wausau.

Josephine and Lawrence were members of the American Legion, and he was Neillsville Chief of Police for 25 years. She cooked and helped at the Legion. They liked to go to dances and she loved to bake and was the best cook. They bought a house at 1408 Hewett Street, where she lived until she was 92 years old. She was in the Neillsville Care and Rehabilitation Center, the last four years of her life. She was a great wife and mother and will be missed by everyone.

If everyone was like Josephine, the world would be a better place. Heaven just got one more angel.

She has two grandchildren, Mike Drescher of Wausau and Nick (Christine) Drescher of Neillsville; three great-grandchildren: Cody, Jacob and Aliyah Drescher; three brothers: Tony Slemec, Jim Slemec and Eddy Slemec. She is also survived by three sisters-in-law: Jeanette Watenpuhl of Neillsville, Evelyn Silkey of Marshfield and Mary Slemec of Neillsville, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence, in August of 1969; her mother and father; a sister, Olga; and three brothers: Bob Slemec, Rudy Slemec and Val Slemec.

Funeral services for Josephine will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, at the Gesche Funeral Home in Neillsville, with visitation from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pastor Douglas Bjerke will officiate. Interment will be in the Neillsville City Cemetery.

Online condolences may be made at www.geschefh.com.  The Gesche Funeral Home is assisting Josephine’s family with funeral arrangements.