Rolland C. Handrich

Age 89, of Manawa, passed away peacefully Thursday evening January 15, 2009 at Bethany Home in Waupaca. He was born May 11, 1919, on the family farm in the Town of Little Wolf, the son of the late Alvin A. and Erna (Zemple) Handrich. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Manawa. After attending Spring Brook School in the Town of Little Wolf, he graduated from Little Wolf High School in Manawa in 1937. He then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a four year member of the famed University of Wisconsin marching band. He was also a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity where he held several offices including chapter president. Following college, he was employed by Swift & Co. in Memphis, TN. He was then employed at the Four Wheel Drive Corp. in Clintonville and Appleton. He later owned and operated the family dairy farm in the Town of Little Wolf. In 1966, he began a forty-year career in the monument industry, first with Heartel Monument Service of Stevens Point, and later with Twin City Monument Works of Neenah. Rollie also assisted the Cline-Hanson-Dahlke Funeral Home in Manawa for many years, helping with visitations and funerals. He was a long time member of the Manawa Lion's Club, a volunteer with the Manawa Rural Fire Department for many years, and a member of the Little Wolf Cemetery Board. On October 22, 1943, he married Mary Doerfler. Following her death, he married Marian Bremer Ryan on November 30, 1974. Besides his wife Marian, he will be missed by his three sons, Thomas R. (Alice), Shakopee, MN; William C. (Jeanette), Waupaca; John R. (Daryl) Surprise, AZ; and Marian's six daughters: Barbara (Robert "Dan") Danielson, Phoenix, AZ; Sr. Lalonde Ryan and Sr. Briana McCarthy, Rochester, MN; Mary (James) Pofahl, Waukesha; Judy (Darrel) Johnson, Minnetonka,MN; Linda (Michael) Hughes, Richfield, MN. He is also survived by a sister: Velda Skagen, Roswell, GA; seventeen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren; two nieces: Judith Skagen, Shorewood; Karen (Chip) Hiller, Alpharetta, GA. Besides his parents and first wife Mary, Rollie was preceded in death by a grandson Christian T. Handrich, and two brothers-in-law, Robert S. Williams and John O. Skagen. The funeral service for Rollie will be held on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Manawa with Rev. Wally Waite and Rev. Vilas Mazemke officiating. Burial will be in the Little Wolf Cemetery, Town of Little Wolf. Friends may call directly at the church on Monday from 11:00 a.m. until the time of the service.