Peter Franckowiak
Peter T. Franckowiak, 79, Marshfield, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at his home.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, at Rembs Funeral Home in Marshfield with Rev. Dan Thelen presiding. The service will be streamed online at www.facebook. com/rembsfuneralhomes. Visitation will take place from 5 - 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, and from 10:30 a.m. until the time of service on Friday, all at Rembs Funeral Home. Burial will follow at St. Adalbert’s Cemetery, Town of McMillan, Marathon County.
Peter was born on September 5, 1945, in Marshfield to Donald and Margaret (Jost) Franckowiak. He graduated from Stratford High School in 1963. He was united in marriage to Karolyn Kay Kickbusch 50 short years ago on July 13,1974 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Stratford.
Three things were important to Peter throughout his whole life: faith, family and farming.
Over his lifetime, Peter belonged to three different Catholic parishes: St. Joseph’s in Stratford, Christ the King in Spencer and St. John the Baptist in Marshfield. It was his belief that nothing is more important than religion, and the question “What’s the right thing to do?” guided all of his decisions. He enjoyed serving as an usher in church on Sundays, gently teasing and making his fellow parishioners smile. One of his favorite Bible verses was Psalm 128:3 - .. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. May you see your children’s children...”.
Those children- and their children - were very important to Peter. Before they got married, he and Karolyn would go out to eat after church on Sundays and watch families with small children, dreaming of the day when they would be busy with their own family. And soon enough, their house was full of daughters! There was a time in those early years when he could scoop up all four in his arms all at once. He never raised his voice, preferring to teach by example, and his girls learned that life isn’t fair, that it’s important to be dependable, and to finish what they started. Sports were important to Peter too - first as a basketball player in his high school days, then as an enthusiastic fan in the stands at his kids’ basketball games & track meets, and as a proud grandpa listening to grandkids’ tales of their own athletic events. He had a quick wit and would often start a sentence with “I hate to tell you, but...” in such a way that the listener knew that there was nothing he wanted more than to say exactly what he thought. From a young age, Peter always knew he was destined to be a farmer and at 16 he purchased his first farm. After graduating from high school, he attended the UW-Madison Ag Short Course to learn the latest in science-based agricultural practices. As he began his farming career, he bought several small farms in the Towns of Brighton and Eau Pleine and cleared 200 acres, stump by stump. His meticulously managed one-man operation ultimately included a herd of 30 registered Holsteins and 600 acres of diversified cash crops: corn, soybeans, winter wheat, barley, hay and certified oats, plus modern grain bins with in-floor ventilation and the first articulated tractor in the area. Peter, the practical perfectionist, was a very hardworking man, and his beloved “Olive Shoots” were the auxiliary staff.
Peter retired from farming in 2009. Not one to be idle, he spent years teaching himself all sorts of woodworking: carving, turning and furniture building. Gardening took the place of farming, and he experimented with a variety of colorful flowers, fruits and vegetables. He volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul in Marshfield and had a regular Perpetual Adoration shift every Saturday at St. John’s Catholic Church. But most of all, he enjoyed his grandchildren! They will all remember picking strawberries and cherries in his garden, playing checkers and croquet, and having epic water-gun battles on hot summer days.
He is survived by his wife, Karolyn; four daughters: Beth (Eric) Carlberg of Marathon, Patti (Donny) Krautscheid of Pasco, Wash., Shelli Franckowiak of Wasilla, Alaska, and Helen (Heath) Swanson of New Richmond, and five grandchildren: Hannah and Grant Krautscheid, Frank and Owen Swanson, and Matthew Franckowiak. He is further survived by his brother, Jerome “Jerry” (Bernie) Franckowiak of Ham Lake, Minn., sisters Susan (Doug) Rendall of Lawrence, Kan., and Sara (Steve) Gabel of Golden Valley, Minn, and sister-in-law, Mary Kickbusch of Marathon, plus many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Instead of flowers, donations may be made in his name to St. John’s Catholic Church, Marshfield. Condolences may be sent online at www. rembSfh.COm.
Paid obituary 164395
