John Miro Protiva

John left this world peacefully on New Year's Day 2026 after a long visit with his wife Olga. He passed away in Brookfield, which was one of his favorite places.
John was born in Northern Wisconsin. He was the son of Martin and Lucy. His time living there was short lived as Martin passed away when John was only 2 years old. He moved to Milwaukee with his mother, Lucy. He lived with her parents, sisters, and sister's husbands on the East Side of Milwaukee on Van Buren St. After a short time, Lucy married Miro Protiva and Miro adopted John as his son.
He was well taken care of as a child by a household of adults. He was lucky enough to attend St. John's Cathedral grade school and high school. He excelled in sports, especially basketball, and was named All-Conference. After St. Johns he took a year to find himself in California with his friend John Merton. One year later his mother had him in college at UW Madison. He thrived in college and was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity on Lake Mendota. He never was far from his "Badger" allegiance and was proud to be an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He had Badger football tickets from the 1960's until just a few years ago when he transferred them to his son as a family legacy.
However, the top sport in his life was tennis. Anyone that knows John knew him as a tennis nut. He caught the bug early in life by watching an exhibition with Pancho Gonzales at the Lake Park courts. John was a member of several tennis clubs but most active at The Western Racquet club in Elm Grove where he is still a member emeritus. He won numerous tournaments and for many years was ranked 3rd or 4th in the state.
He was very happy to have lived in Brookfield and Elm Grove most of his long life. He bought his first house on N. Calhoun Rd less than a block from St. John Vianney parish, of which he and his family were charter members. After Calhoun Rd he built a house in Carriage Hills on Elm Terrace Dr with Mierow Brother builders. It is a beautiful red brick home on a corner lot. The next stop was a short stint in Elm Grove at Elm Grove Terrace condos. After that there was a nice colonial on Club Dr, which was just 3 houses from the Racquet club. And then his current home in Elm Grove. His final resting place will also be in Elm Grove at St. Mary's Cemetery on Watertown Plank Rd.
After obtaining an advertising degree from UW, John entered the business world. He was hired by Mutual of New York with an office in the historic Bockl Building on Wisconsin Ave. He was one of the youngest agents ever to win the Million Dollar Production award and did it consistently, year after year. He soon left and started his own agency. It was JP & Associates with offices through the years in Wauwatosa, Elm Grove, and Brookfield. He worked long days and long weeks, including every Saturday. It was mostly a property /casualty insurance agency doing high volume car insurance sales as the Jolly Protector. He worked in the insurance industry from 1952 until just a week ago when he was writing some instructions for one of his last policies.
He was a loving husband to Olga with whom he shared his Elm Grove home with. She was a devoted wife that committed herself to his care over that last few years. John had three children. Two daughters and one son. Patricia was the first child, followed by John, and then Kathleen. He sent all his kids to private schools. All went to St John Vianny for grade school. The girls went to Divine Savior for high school, and John went to Brookfield Academy. Both Pat and John went to UW Madison and Kathy went to UW Whitewater.
He is survived by his loving wife Olga, his children, Patricia (Patrick) Lebon, John T.(Annette) Protiva, and Katheen (Kevin) Oestreich, step-daughter Olga Lucia Arciniegas, (Andres Martinez). He is also survived by step-grandchildren Kyle (Krystal) Oestreich, Ashley (Ryan) Raskin and Daniel Martinez and step-great grandchildren Peyton Raskin, Reid Oestreich, Cooper Raskin, Claire Raskin, Adeline Oestreich, and Myer Raskin. Preceded in death by his step-grandson Luca Raskin.
A funeral service to be held at Harder Funeral Home on Capital Drive in Brookfield on Thursday, January 8th, 2026. Visitation begins at 10:00 am with a Funeral Service at 11:30 am.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the MACC fund. https://maccfund.org/memorial-donation/ The Honor Flight is also a coveted charity.