Edward J. Greschner

Ed Greschner, 99, of Clear Lake, WI, passed away on November 18, 2021 at home peacefully, surrounded by family.

Edward John Greschner was born July 23, 1922, in the township of Turtle Lake at Route 2, Clayton, Wisconsin. He was the youngest of six children of Joseph and Elizabeth Greschner.  His dad could not read or write and Lizzie sold home brew to pay off the mortgage.  He grew up on a 60-acre farm with three sisters and two brothers.  They had no car so the family walked or used horses to go to town in a wagon.   He attended Longfellow, a one room elementary school, and although the youngest, was the first member of his family to attend high school.  He graduated from Turtle Lake High School in 1940 and worked on his brother-in-law’s farm for $25 a month in Deronda, WI.  He also caught frogs, with his bare hands and sold them to a  restaurant in Star Prairie.  This, along with the scholarship for tuition and odd jobs in River Falls, enabled him to enroll for the fall term classes in 1940 at Wisconsin University, River Falls.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army the day after Pearl Harbor and ended up in the South Pacific in the 25th Infantry Division under General Douglas MacArthur.  After the end of the war, he went back to college and graduated in 1947 with a B.S.  degree in Agriculture.  His first “teaching” job, in July of 1947, was instructing Veterans-on-the-Farm via weekly classes at the Turtle Lake High School and two, two-hour, monthly visits to the farms of the 30 enrollees.  He became engaged to Gloria M. Fredrick before accepting the position as Vocational Agricultural Teacher at Marshfield Senior High School.  He was married to Gloria on August 19, 1950, and they went to live in Marshfield.  The sudden death of Ed’s father prompted him to look for job closer to his widowed mother and closer to Gloria’s relatives and friends.  They moved to Rice Lake where Ed was finishing off his work with the Veterans-on-the-Farm Program.  Most of the WWII Veterans had received their eligible training by now.  Ed was asked to become part of a two-man Ag. Dept which also included teaching some science and even Freshman English.  That did not sit too well with him so he decided to look elsewhere to take his wife and two sons, Steve and Brad, to greener pastures.  In July 1954 they moved to Clear Lake, WI, and back again to vocational agriculture. Now Gloria was really happy, being only 12 miles from her childhood home.  They added another boy, Allen, and two girls, Cheryl and Connie, to the family.  Ed was through moving and settled in Clear Lake for the rest of his life.    He was very dedicated to his job and was asked to be Junior/Senior High School Principal in 1967.  He was known as Mr. G or Mr. Ed to his students.  As principal he was remembered for his many jingly keys as he made his way down the hallway at warp speed.  The kids really respected him.  He was an overachiever and spent so many hours at school that Gloria threatened to bring a cot up for him to sleep on.  He had this job until his retirement from school in 1985.  Ed was one of the great story tellers of all time and recapped his growing up stories for his grandchildren.  When he retired, Nancy Bergman put on a skit “this is your life” recounting all of his many achievements.  After retiring, he and Gloria decided to focus on volunteering and giving back to the community.  He became very active in the Clear Lake Community.  His first priorities were his church and the restoration of the Clear Lake Park, thanks to his wife Gloria, who was the main influence on both of these endeavors.  He also started  community education with Heidi Paulson organizing it.  In 2004, at the age of 82, he retired after 50 years of service as   superintendent and teacher of Grace Lutheran Sunday School.  He still kept the tasks of taping the church services for television and taking care of the shrubbery and landscaping chores of the church grounds.  Ed did not fish, hunt, or bowl, but he did golf a lot!  Ed was also a life member of VFW Post 5828, American  Legion Post 108, and the Clear Lake FFA Alumni.  He was a Melvin Jones  member of the Clear Lake Lions and was involved in the Clear Lake Veterans Memorial, the Clear Lake Community Center, and submitted monthly articles to the Clear Lake Museum Chronicle. He also took hundreds of pictures, although photography was not one of his specialties.  The Greschner homestead always had a big garden, a big lawn and a lot of flowers and shrubs.  Ed did the mowing and cultivating and Gloria did the other 95%.  The exception being the massive “paying forward” landscaping update undertaken last year by Greg Hose.

He is preceded in death by son Brad, parents, Joseph and Elizabeth, sisters and brothers.

Survived by children, Steve (Donna) Greschner, Allen (Lori) Greschner, Cheryl (Pete) Paulson and Connie (Rick) Wallberg.  Grandchildren Alicia (Derek) Campbell, Jon Greschner, Mark (Erin) Greschner, Josh Greschner, Elizabeth (Adam) Greschner-Bihn, Rachel (Dan) Gerber, James Wallberg and Jacob (Frances) Kalin, along with 12 great-grandchildren.

A Private Family Funeral will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Clear Lake, WI.

There will be a Open House Visitation at the Scheuermann Funeral Home on Saturday, December 11, 2021  from 11 AM  to  6 PM

Interment will be at the Clear Lake Cemetery with full military honors.

Scheuermann-Hammer Funeral Home  is handling the arrangements.      

www.clearlakefuneralhome.com

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