Richard "Opa" Deli

Richard (Dick) "Opa" Deli, 85, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away on Sunday, May 8th, 2022, with his family by his side in Spooner, WI.

Born in Gary, IN, to Grace & Frederick Deli, Richard grew up farming in Kouts, IN, and enjoyed spending time with his best high school friends who were inseparable.

Richard was a mechanic in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1955-57, stationed in Worms, Germany, where he met and married the love of his life, Lieselotte "Lilo" Bürger, at the Justice of the Peace in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany, in 1957.

They returned to Indiana together to continue dairy and crop farming in Kouts from 1957-69, while having two sons: Ricky and Randy Deli. Richard received the award for 1967 Senior Champion Region 1 Indiana 10-acre shelled corn yield contest (yield 177.8 Bu/A) from the Pioneer Corn Company Inc. In 1969, Richard and Lieselotte moved to Southwestern WI to continue dairy farming until 1985, where they sold his dairy herd during the dairy herd buyout. During his time farming in Wisconsin, Richard attended Farm Business Production Management classes through Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore, WI. After selling his dairy herd, Richard and Lieselotte raised beef cattle steers and did custom feeding of heifers until 2001, all the while crop farming their land. For fun, they enjoyed dancing on Saturday nights and participating in bowling leagues with their closest friends.

In 2002, Richard and Lieselotte retired from farming and moved to Spooner, WI, to enjoy the outdoors and their family. Richard was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, duck hunting, deer hunting and goose hunting with his son Randy. He loved watching sports like NFL Football (Green Bay Packers), NCAA Basketball (Wisconsin Badgers) and any sporting events and school functions of his grandkids (Josh, Jessica, Nikki Jo and Jared Deli).

Richard could fix anything! Richard loved to repair and rebuild tractors. His love for mechanics led him to start a used car dealership with Lieselotte. They ran R&L Used Cars on their property from 2004-10 and had many returning customers throughout those years.

If anyone needed a helping hand, Richard was there to assist. Richard was one of the kindest and most generous people on Earth. He would do anything for his family or anyone. He had a great sense of humor; very funny and witty. Richard made others feel appreciated and valued.

Richard is survived by his wife, Lieselotte Deli of Spooner, WI; sister, Lillian Anderson of Port St. Lucie, FL; his two sons, Ricky Deli (wife - Mary) of Oshkosh, WI, and Randy Deli of Spooner, WI, and his grandchildren Josh, Jessica, Nikki Jo and Jared Deli (wife Lisa), and great-granddaughter, Wrenna, nieces (Debbie Trussel and Lisa Nandhavan), cousins and many family and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Frederick Deli, his mother, Grace Deli, his brother, Freddie Deli, brother-in-law Bill Anderson and nephew Freddie Anderson.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, July 14th, from 10 AM - 12 PM at Bratley-Nelson Funeral Home in Spooner, WI. Following the visitation, there will be a private family memorial service at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery at N4063 Veterans Way, Spooner, WI 54801. Please join us in celebrating his life at Track's restaurant from 4-6 PM.

Thank you to the Veterans Administration, Hearts of Gold, Shell Lake Hospital - Dr. Dunham, the nursing staff, along with home health nurses, the staff from Regional Hospice of Spooner and Marcus and his staff at Bartley-Nelson Funeral Home in Spooner. Many thanks to all those who have sent sympathy cards or expressed their condolences.

In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial contribution to the family so they can set up a scholarship opportunity for the Agriculture Power and Equipment Technician Program at Northwood Technical College in New Richmond, WI, in honor of Richard Deli.