Edward "Ed" A. Cychosz

Edward A. Cychosz passed away on August 1st, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on Dec. 29th, 1946 in Chicago and grew up in a northside neighborhood. It was mostly a Polish neighborhood, where he was right at home. He attended a Polish Catholic grade school and graduated from Holy Trinity High School. As a youngster, he used to play baseball with other kids in the nearby park. Also, he went swimming at the park pool as often as he could. Summers were spent on his grandpa's farm in Wisconsin. He loved the countryside there.

After high school, he worked as a welder at Rawhide making oil seals for tanks and aircrafts. He was drafted in July 1966. After Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, he left for Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division in December of 1966. In late '67, he was shipped stateside after he was wounded. He spent six months at the military's Great Lakes Hospital in Chicago, three as a patient and three on detail.

He went back to Rawhide after his Honorable Discharge. He worked on oil seals for the rockets to the moon, as well as the ones used on Army tanks. An opportunity came to him to move to Wisconsin, and he took it.

In 1970, he met his wife Lorraine during a trip back to Chicago. She worked at a bank and, it turned out, they came from the same northside neighborhood. They had a lot of acquaintances in common. They married that same year, and she moved to Wisconsin with him.

He worked at Preway from 1970 to 1988 in Wisconsin Rapids and Cummins in Wautoma from 1988 to his retirement in 2009.

They have two daughters, Nadine and Natalie, and four grandchildren. Three generations enjoyed hunting together in his woods. Hunting season ran into Thanksgiving and became "A National Holiday" at the house.

They traveled to about 30 states over the years, Canada and Mexico. Their preferred mode of travel was joining organized bus trips. Their last trip was to Savannah and Charleston.

He also had the experience of taking an Honor Flight. He went with the first group of Vietnam vets in 2015. His daughter Nadine, came along as a chaperone. They saw the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the Korean War Memorial, memorials commemorating both World Wars and the Changing of the Guard.

He enjoyed swimming, gardening, hunting, fishing, reading books about the Old West, traveling and spending time with his family. He will be missed dearly by many.

He was a member of St. Paul's Parish in Plainfield and a member of Disabled American Veterans, Chapter, Schumann Heink #30 and also, a member of the VFW Post 6007 serving as a trustee.

He is survived by his wife, Lorraine, of 53 years of Bancroft, two daughters, Nadine Tully of Mauston, Natalie Schoenstene (Shawn) of Plainfield, four grandchildren, Caleb, Zachary, Josiah, and Nadia, two sisters, Linda Cychosz of Bancroft, Sandra Bula (Gene) of Plainfield and Aunt Betty Petrusky of Bancroft. He is also survived by nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in law, sisters-in-law, and friends. He was proceeded in death by his parents, Ernest Sr. and Ann (Petrusky) Cychosz, Ernest Jr. (Phyliss) Cychosz and Peter (Sandy) Cychosz.