Norman Irish, Sr.

Norman Irish, Sr. of Kempster, died Thurs., Dec. 23 at Eastview Medical and Rehabilitation in Antigo. He was born Sept. 21, 1923 in Kempster, son of the late George and Elmyra (Detwiler) Irish. He married Clarine Knutson on Feb. 12, 1949 at the First Congregational Church in Antigo. She survives, and resides in Antigo.He attended school at Kempster and Antigo High School. Mr. Irish was a logger, owning and operating Irish Brothers Logging with his brother. He also was employed at Badger Ordnance in Baraboo, Bass Lake County Club, C.R. Meyers Construction, and worked as a logger in Wyoming.Mr. Irish was a gardener, beekeeper, and also raised animals on his hobby farm. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and relatives. He loved cutting and piling wood, and will be remembered for his perfectly straight wood stacks. In his retirement years, he enjoyed having his grandchildren over. He loved to talk and tease, and he especially enjoyed when the grandchildren would scratch his back. He had morning coffee with his friends at McDonalds.He was a member of Kempster United Church of Christ, and had very good friends among the church family.In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Norine (Guy) Wegner of Ft. Worth, TX; 2 sons, Norman (Renee) Irish of Kempster, Michael (Deborah) Irish of Antigo; a sister, Elizabeth Drake of Antigo; 8 grandchildren, Morgan Wegner of Minocqua, Brooke Wegner of Ft. Worth, TX, Cory Wegner of Ft. Worth, Jonathan (Tabitha) Irish of Kempster, Michiel Irish of Kempster, Kristine Irish of Kempster, Brandon Irish of Antigo, and Cassandra Irish of Antigo; a great-granddaughter, McKenna Rae Bushar of Kempster; a sister-in-law Virginia Irish of Plover; a brother-in-law Manvel Knutson of Lady Lake, FL; 12 nieces and nephews, Joseph Irish of California, Dawn (Dee) Dailey of Argonne, Dixie (Larry) Messer of Antigo, Ronald Drake of Antigo, Sandra (Chuck) Stevens of Antigo, Debbie Shephard of Antigo, Beth (Jim) Hall of Antigo, Shari (Tim) Kiper of Antigo, Jeff Drake of Antigo, Steve (Barbara) Knutson of Black River Falls, Barbara (Chuck) Hunter of Las Vegas, NV, and Tom (Merry) Schroeder of New York.In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Robert; 4 sisters-in-law, Marvel Schroeder, Anne Knutson, and Alva Knutson, a Carol Knutson; 3 brothers-in-law, Richard Knutson, Richard Drake, and Arnie Schroeder.A funeral service will take place at 6:00 p.m. Mon. at Strasser-Roller Funeral Home with visitation from 4-6 at the funeral home. Graveside services will take place in the spring at Kempster Cemetery. He truly loved his wife, children and grandchildren. His family will treasure his memory.