Eugene David "Gene" Wagner, Janesville (2011)
November 29, 2011
Eugene David "Gene" Wagner, 79, of Janesville, passed to eternal life on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, at Agrace HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg, WI, following a brief battle with lung and bone cancer. The youngest of 14 children born to Martin and Mathilda (Endl) Wagner in Fort Atkinson, WI, he attended St. Joseph’s grade school and later graduated from American School in Chicago. Gene married Patricia J. Schofner at St. Patrick’s Church in Janesville on Nov. 10, 1951, and the couple recently celebrated 60 years of marriage. Gene was a jack of all trades, working in many different jobs in his lifetime and serving as a cook in the Wisconsin National Guard. He worked as a meter reader for Wisconsin Power & Light (now Alliant Energy), as well as an inventory clerk and cashier, retiring in 1993 after 32 years with the company. Gene fought obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression all of his life and was able to help many people with their struggles through Recovery, Inc., but he often said that he was never able to help himself. He was a fastidious, funny, wise, articulate and loving man who lived modestly, but above all, he was a very hard worker. He could also tell a heck of a good story about his many childhood and adolescent adventures. Gene's interests included investing, following the news, gardening, and politics, and he also enjoyed collecting coins and political memorabilia earlier in his life. Janesville residents may know Gene by his frequent letters to the editor of the Janesville Gazette. Among his favorite activities were spending mornings drinking diet Cokes and reading at “Mickey D’s,” and frequenting the library. He often absorbed the news of five daily newspapers. Gene and Pat enjoyed traveling and visited numerous destinations over the years.
Surviving Gene is his loving wife, Pat of Janesville; his daughter, Paula (Eric) Apfelbach of Fitchburg; his pride-and-joy grandchildren, Christopher and Jennifer Apfelbach, who are both attending UW-Madison; his sister, Gertrude Oakes of Janesville; and his “forever friends,” Sherry and Chas Ferguson and Barbara and Jerry Cox, all of Janesville.
In addition to his parents, Gene was preceded in death by 12 of his siblings: Sylvester “Sy” (Lenore), Jerome “Chummy” (Ione), Robert “Mouse” (Marion), Leo “Pope” (Hazel), Cyril “Turk” (Bernice), Irene (Harry) Wittmann, Marie (Ervin “Buzzy”) Bussler, Anna (Cliff) Retrum, Henry “Hank” (Evy), Dorothy “Dort” (Tony) Tolocko, Genevieve “Tootie” (Arnie) Thayer, and Joseph (Martha); Gertrude’s husbands: Floyd, Frank, and Jim; also aunts, uncles, cousins, three nephews and a niece. Gene was especially proud of his late cousin, Gerald Endl, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in World War II.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at Nativity of Mary Catholic Church (St. Mary's), 313 East Wall Street, Janesville, with Fr. John Auby presiding. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of the services on Friday at the church. Entombment will be at Mount Olivet Mausoleum, Janesville. Memorials may be made to Nativity of Mary or Agrace HospiceCare, 3001 Mineral Point Drive, Janesville. Brian Hansen Funeral Service, Janesville, 608-752-8800, is assisting the family.
Our love to Gene always and forever.
