John Frederick Ellwanger's Obituary
John Frederick Ellwanger was born October 22, 1941 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At five months of age, he was adopted by Elizabeth and Melvin Ellwanger. John graduated from Brookfield High School, did a couple years of college, and later joined the army in 1961 during the Berlin Crisis. He was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington where he fell in love with the West Coast. He was released from active duty with an honorable discharge. John then began a thirty-year career working for Pacific Bell, starting out climbing poles, and worked on the test desk answering 611 calls before becoming a communications technician. He retired on November 14, 1994.He is survived by his wife Marcia, his daughter Ann and son-in-law Ken, his brother Bruce Ellwanger and Kathy, and his stepchildren Stacy Latta and David Jenks, and Darren and Trina Latta. He is sadly missed by his grandchildren Chloe, Zachary, Amanda, Howl, Raef, Braeden, and Brooklynd, and by many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his two sons, John and David Ellwanger.John loved classical music. His favorites were Beethoven’s “5th Symphony’, Rachmaninoff’s “Theme of Paganini”, “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, and “Canon in D” by Pachelbel.He always read the newspaper from beginning to end, his favorite section being the comics. John was a lover of books by Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Lee Child, Stephen King, Dale Brown and many more.He loved, loved, LOVED cherry cobbler, pecan pie, and Oreo cookies, eventually becoming known as the Oreo King. John enjoyed playing games on the computer and on his handheld Yahtzee game, which always went with him to the bathroom. If he was MIA, Marcia knew where to find him.John loved animals. John and Marcia’s beloved dogs always slept on John’s legs when he was in the recliner. He would say that his “furry family” was all together. John rescued injured birds, fed them with eye droppers, and took them to Sulfur Creek for rehabilitation.Another love was road trips every other year by car across the United States. John has a complete collection of spoons from every state he has visited including places of interest such as Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Caroline, Gettysburg, Lincoln’s birthplace, General Patton’s Museum, Lucille Ball and Normal Rockwell museums, the Alamo, Devils Tower, and many more. John and Marcia were blessed with many beautiful sunsets. It was always an adventure. Nothing was planned except visiting family. Some of the most interesting places were found by accident. Would you believe a Spam Museum in Austin, MN, the Corning Glass Museum in New York, and a National Farm Toy Museum in Iowa! How he loved to travel and discover new places.John passed away on December 8, 2017 after a brief battle with cancer. His final resting place will be Monterey Bay, California.
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