Roy William Kriesel, 91, of the town of Seneca in Shawano County, was called home by the Lord on Dec. 21, 2015, at the Evergreen Nursing Home in Shawano. Roy was born May 14, 1924, on the Kriesel family farm and lived there all his life. He was the son of the late John and Lillie (Mueller) Kriesel. Roy attended a one-room country school for eight years and at age 13 began working on the family dairy farm. In the mid-1950s, Roy took over the farm and turned it into a Hereford beef farm, a business that lasted 40 years. Additionally, for 50 years he cooked maple syrup from the hundreds of trees he tapped each spring.
Roy married Bernice Kroening in 1965, and together they farmed and travelled the United States and Canada. In 1976, they travelled to Europe, where they met a German girl named Judy who would later come to live with them when she was eight years old. Roy loved music from the Big Band era and had been a Green Bay Packers fan since 1936 when he began listening to games on the family’s first radio. He was a member of Divine Savior Lutheran Church in Shawano for the past 39 years.
Roy is survived by daughter Judy (Brad) Walbruck, of Arbor Vitae, and their boys Kyle and Eric; stepsons, Donald (Barbara) Kroening, of Shawano, and their children Rodney, Laurie, Russell, Leah, and Luann, Robert (Judith) Kroening, of Leopolis, and their children Tracy and Jeff, Eugene Kroening, of Tilleda, and his daughters Suzie, Sherry, and Jackie; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Bernice; his parents; one brother, Orval; and one sister, Cora.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, at the Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano. Burial will be in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Caroline. A gathering of family and friends will be held from noon until the time of the service.
The family would like to thank the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Evergreen Nursing Home and ThedaCare at Home Hospice for their dedication and compassion during a difficult time.
www.swedbergfuneralhome.com


