Wenzel Roessler

Wenzel Roessler, age 72, died at Kindred Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, Friday, July 21, 2006. Wenzel retired in 1998, after 32 years of service as a machinist, from the Union Special Company, maker of industrial sewing machines, in Huntley, Illinois. Visitation will be Sunday, July 23, 2006 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Chapel, 6830 West Thunderbird, Peoria, Arizona. Funeral Mass will be Monday, July 24, 2006, 9:00 a.m. at St. Clare of Assisi, Bell Road and Cotton Lane, Surprise, Arizona, with final interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, 98th and Thomas, Avondale, Arizona following the Mass. Wenzel was a member of St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church, and was a long time member of the Loyal Order of Moose. He was preceded in death by his parents Josef and Karolina (nee Heichel) Roessler, a daughter, Karolina Marie Roessler, one sister-in-law HelenVerkler nee Bailey, and a niece Eileen Tuma nee Novak. Wenzel was born in Polischte, Hungary in the Carpathian Mountains on October 30, 1933. The area changed hands many times and after WWII it became a part of the Ukraine. They left Polischte when the Russian front overtook the area causing him and his family to flee from the Communists that his father had fought against as a soldier in the Hungarian Calvary. They were able to escape on a train provided through the assistance of the German Red Cross. They migrated on the train through Europe dodging the Communists for over 9 months. Other trains with many family members were captured by the Russians and sent to work camps in Siberia for 35 years. Wenzel and his immediate family managed to get behind Allied lines and became refugees. They were encamped as Hungarian refugees in Germany. He and his family later applied to come to America, waited many years for their acceptance and Green Cards. They then came to America on a ship, the SS Blatchford, from Osterode, Hartz in Germany in 1952. Wenzel and his family arrived at the end of their American immigration through Ellis Island to Galesburg, Illinois. He and his Father worked there in a saw mill until they were able to repay their families' immigration travel expenses, back to the church that sponsored them to enter the United States. Wenzel and his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and worked there until layoffs came. They moved to Cleveland and were reunited there with other branches of the family related to his paternal grandfather and his mother. The family's final move was to Chicago, where the family put down roots and stayed. Wenzel later met Patricia Bailey and they were married on September 12, 1959, at St. Louis of France Church in Chicago. Wenzel is survived by his wife Patricia (Pat), two sons: Wenzel V. married to Deborah (Debbie) nee Hintz, and Timothy J. married to Rachel (Thea) nee Skruch, one daughter: Margaret S. (Peggy) married to Edward F. Dvorsky. He also has two granddaughters: Heather and Addison Roessler, and three grandchildren through marriage: Jessica Hintz, Amanda Hintz and Jeremiah Hintz. Wenzel is also survived by one brother; Frank married to Susan (Sue) nee Caithmer; Three sisters: Mary Nemeth nee Roessler married to Joseph Nemeth, Helen Termanas nee Roessler married to James Termanas, and Olga Dacy nee Roessler formerly married to Robert Dacy; One sister-in-law: Bonnie Jean Novak nee Bailey widow of James Joseph Novak. Wenzel also has many nephews and nieces: Kimberly Kaplar, Greg Roessler, Lori Klug, James, Jeffrey, and Joseph, Termanas, Julie Patenaude, Christine Selof, Carrie Manke, James Novak, Louise Rucinski, Patricia Mary Novak, William, Jeffrey, and Bernard Verkler, Helene Barnes, Ernest Nemeth, and Hermine Moretti, as well as several great nieces and great nephews.