Norman Erdman

Norman H. Erdman, age 89, passed away on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at Our House Memory Care in Wisconsin Rapids.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at St. John Lutheran Church in Kellner, Wisconsin. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday at the church. Pastor Matthew Lorfeld will officiate. Burial will be at St. John Lutheran Parish Cemetery.

Norm was born on March 28, 1936, in Milwaukee, to Harry and Mary (Vingleman) Erdman. He graduated from Boys Tech High School in Milwaukee. He married Elaine Wodke on July 2, 1960; they had been friends since elementary school.

He proudly served in the United States Army Reserves for several years at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, earning the rank of Staff Sergeant, where he worked as a cook and made lifelong friendships. He learned to cut the cake donut recipe to 1/10 and would make it at home often.

Norm loved the world of printing. He began setting individual type in high school, and as the industry changed to digital, he worked in film and eventually in computer typesetting. This led to a position, beginning in 1972, at Fey Publishing Company in Wisconsin Rapids. He retired in 1991.

They bought a 100-year-old farmhouse in the Town of Grant, and they were not only welcomed by the Steinke family, but they also adopted them and their way of life. They taught him how to do all the chores on the farm, including milking cows, baling hay, and cutting down trees.

Norm and Elaine loved to take road trips across the United States, enjoying the landscapes, local foods, and making friends along the way. Together, they attended St. John Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Laymen's League and volunteered to help with church projects.

He was known for his sense of humor, always making people laugh and sharing stories. He enjoyed getting together with friends to play cards. He was an avid golfer who played at Homestead Golf in Wisconsin Rapids and Martin Valley Golf Course in Texas. He was a Packer fan and shareholder and would cheer them on by yelling at the TV.

In the mid-1970s, he took a class at Mid-State with Dave Sippl and learned how to make furniture. If you had an idea and a design, he would build it. In his later years, he took up oil painting, specializing in still life and landscape; he even made his own frames out of barn wood. He had so much artwork that it covered the walls of both his homes.

In his later years, he volunteered at Riverview Hospital with Reuben Timm as an escort.

Everyone he met became a friend; it didn't matter where he met them. He would remember you and think about you often.

Norm is survived by his loving wife Elaine, daughters: Jane (Paul) Rusch, Joan (Scott) Raplinger, Joyce (Dan) Ursin; grandchildren: Amy (Geoff) Root, Kate (Jordan) Stenzel, John (Amanda) Rusch, Mark Rusch, Kendal (Will) Ursin, Jenny Rusch, Evan Ursin, Matt (Shanah) Rusch; several great-grandchildren; brother Kenny (Lynn) Erdman and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Gene (Sandy) Erdman, and sister Bette (Pete) Kane.

The family would like to thank the staff at Our House Memory Care, Heartland Hospice and Nekoosa Court for their outstanding care and compassion.