Craig William Wilkum

Craig William Wilkum, age 72, of Kiel, passed away peacefully holding his wife's hand on Monday, March 17th 2025, a patient at Sharon Richardson Hospice. He was born on April 3, 1952 in Fond du Lac, WI to Ralph W. and LaVerne A. (Schulteis) Wilkum.
He graduated from Goodrich High in Fond du Lac, and pursued his love of feeding people at Colonel Sanders as a chef. He then spent over 20 years on the Soo Line Railroad and the remainder of his career honing his craft as a carpenter and foreman for Stadola Maas Construction.
After many years of proving his love for her and her two children, Jason and Robyn, he married Bonnie Krugler on July 12, 1986 in Fond du Lac. They welcomed their daughter, Erin, two years later.
A thoughtful craftsman, Craig left his fingerprints on countless home improvement projects for friends and family, transforming their homes, cottages, backyards and bringing any woodworking projects they could imagine to life.
He shared his love for hockey and fishing with his kids and grandkids, handling the dirty jobs of clearing and flooding ice rinks and filleting fish (as long as they were at least as big as his hand).
He spent hours in the kitchen making sure the many gatherings he hosted had plenty of good drinks and great food. He was always a step ahead, prepared for anything to make sure everyone was having a good time.
He was always up for the full experience: detouring to see the roadside attractions or tailgating before Badger football games and staying for the 5th Quarter.
Craig spent his happiest moments on the water, first on the shores of Lake Winnebago at the cottage and later at his home on Cedar Lake. He was the best boat captain, whipping kids off a tube for hours on end or driving slow for a sunset cruise.
He was a man of few words; he was reliable and steadfast and never sought attention or recognition. His love was quiet and subtle, but we felt it deeply.
Craig is survived by his wife, Bonnie Wilkum, his daughter, Erin (Alex) Tyink and his step-children, Jason (Sue) Breitzman and Robyn (Luke) Titel; his grandchildren, Odin and Otto; Cosette, Elora, and Talon; Olivia and Marissa. He is further survived by his brother, Greg Wilkum and his sister, Carrie (Roland) Crook. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Robert Wilkum, and sister-in-law, Pat Wilkum.
His cancer diagnosis came nearly 13 years ago with a poor prognosis. His family would like to share our deep gratitude to Dr. Rubina Qamar who's clinical research gave us a decade more than we thought we might have. Additional thanks to his care teams at ThedaCare Cancer Center, including Dr. Joyce Philip and Dr. Joe Bovi, as well as the compassionate care offered by the team at Sharon Richardson Hospice in Sheboygan Falls.
A visitation and memorial service will be held at Zion Lutheran Church in New Holstein on Sunday, March 30th at 2:00 and 4:00 respectively. We welcome family and friends to share memories of him with us there.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in Craig's memory to the ThedaCare Family of Foundations Cancer Research Fund at www.thedacare.org/donate or the UW Carbone Cancer Center's Feature Cancer Research Fund at www.supportuw.org/give. Or, do something unexpectedly thoughtful for someone you love; he'd like that, too.