Obit: Gruetzmacher, Alvin M. (1923 - 2005)

Transcribed by: Crystal Wendt

Surnames: Gruetzmacher, Pfingsten, Jahns, Lubovich, Brown, Hinz, Sprafke, Hahn, Martinson

---Source: Merrill Foto News (Merrill, Lincoln, Co., Wis.) Wednesday, 4 May 2005; page 10

---Gruetzmacher, Alvin M. (19 Oct. 1923 - 26 April 2005)

Alvin M. Gruetzmacher, 81, of W2229 Hwy. 64, Town of Pine River, died Tuesday, April 26, 2005, at Pine Crest Nursing Home, Merrill.

Alvin was born October 19, 1923, in the Town of Pine River, son of the late Ervin and Anna Pfingsten Gruetzmacher. He married Arlette Jahns in Waukesha on February 3, 1945. She survives.

Alvin served in the Marine Corps during World War II from June of 1945 until his honorable discharge in August of 1946. He was a dairy farmer and logger in the Town of Pine River, and also a self-employed carpenter. Alvin's family will remember his wonderful sense of humor. He was a former member of the American Legion Honor Guard in the late 1940 and into the 1950s. Alvin was a member of the Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Merrill, and had served on the church council. He had served on the St. James Cemetery Board in Pine River, was a former member of the Pine River School Board, and had been a town supervisor in Pine River. Alvin enjoyed trout fishing, golfing, hunting and riding his four-wheeler.

Survivors include his wife Arlette, Merrill; daughters Carol (Tom) Lubovich, Belle Plaine, Minn.; and Kathleen Gruetzmacher (husband Wendel Brown), Los Alamos, N.M.; sons David (Judi), Wausau; and Richard (Peggy), Merrill; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are sisters Ruth Hinz, Wausau; and Rosalie Sprafke, Pottsville, Ark.; and brothers Clarence (Arlene), Merrill; and Elroy (Phyllis), Bentonville, Ark. He was preceded in death by sisters Baby Caroline Gruetzmacher and Lorinda Hahn.

Funeral services were Saturday, April 30, at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Merrill. Rev. Jeffrey Martinson officiated. Burial was in St. James Cemetery, Town of Pine River, with graveside military rites conducted by WFW Post 1638, Merrill. The Taylor and Stine Funeral Home, Merrill, assisted the family. The Gruetzmacher Family would like to thank both Pine Crest Nursing Home and Comfort Care and Hospice Services for the fine care given to Alvin.

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