Wayne Rohrberg

Wayne A. Rohrberg was born on October 30th, 1926, in Racine Wisconsin and passed on November 20th, 2015, in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. He is preceded in death by his father Arthur C Rohrberg, mother Hilda Eckhart Rohrberg, Brother William T Rohrberg and his wife Evelyn Smigielski-Rohrberg, who was the love of his life. He is survived by his sister-in-law Dagny Rohrberg, niece Amy RohrBerg, niece-in-law Gretchen Honsell, nephew-in-law Wayne A Markley and niece Christiane J. Markley (Rohrberg). Wayne Rohrberg graduated from the University of Wisconsin’s Engineering School on August 17, 1951 and was happy to have a ride home after graduation, not having to hitchhike home to Racine Wisconsin as he often did. He went on to work as a Chemical Engineer for several employers over a long career. He worked hard each day using his valuable education of which he was very proud. He also spent a great deal of time using his education to work on pet projects around his home. Wayne often said that his solace was playing tennis and being physically fit. He belonged to a coop based tennis club in Racine Wisconsin where he not only played but also helped maintain the courts and was also instrumental in its expansion. He was a stellar Badger enthusiast, particularly for the football team with a special affinity for the marching band and not to exclude Badger Basketball and Badger Hockey. For over 50 years he would travel from coast to coast to watch his beloved Badgers play from the biggest bowl games to the pre-season games at Camp Randell. He frequently travelled to the games by Greyhound bus thus dubbing himself The Greyhound Badger. He was also a member of the UW Donor’s Club and the UW Alumni Association. Prior to attending the University of Wisconsin Wayne served as a class V6 in the United States Navy and the Naval Reserves from August 4,1946 to August 31, 1950, spending much of his time in the South Pacific during the early days of his service. Wayne was a dedicated husband as well as a loyal brother. Mentioned earlier, he was woodworker who loved to create and build items for his home. He would often say that his favorite invention was thermal wear which was not available during the depression when money and coal were hard to come by and when he would walk to school in the dead of winter wearing his only coat purchased from Montgomery Wards. Besides the Badgers and woodworking, he enjoyed his walks in nature where he loved to bird watch and view its wildlife, particularly the deer, which all brought him endless joy. In his later years he moved to a condominium that had a screened in porch facing a preserved wooded area. He was especially appreciative of this as he spent many hours watching the world outside. His childhood taught him love and passion as well as the value of a dollar. These were the fundamental forces throughout his life that were apparent to those of us who knew and loved him. The proudest moment of Wayne’s life was when he married Evelyn Smigielski, the love of his life, on July 6th, 1987, at the Jerome Church of Oconomowoc Wisconsin. He was fortunate to have known Evelyn in his twenties and reunited with her, by chance, through the classifieds when he was in his fifties; a true fairy tale of destined lovers. Please send your remembrances in the name of Wayne A. Rohrberg to Retzer Nature Center of Waukesha Wisconsin Nature Conservancy or, of course, the U.W. Badgers. The funeral is Saturday January 9th, 2015, at Pagenkopf Funeral Home, 1165 E. Summit Avenue, Oconomowoc Wisconsin. The viewing is at 10 a.m. and the ceremony at 11 a.m.