Robert John Marsch

Robert John Marsch, 78, passed away at his home in Hori­con, on April 19, 2024.
Born to Wal­ter “Pete” and Lucy Marsch on Oc­to­ber 24, 1945, Robert was the sixth of nine chil­dren. He was a life­long res­i­dent of Hori­con and grad­u­ate of the Hori­con High School class of 1963, where he ex­plored his pas­sion for art and cre­ativ­ity, often in­spired by the cam­era he re­ceived as a gift from his older brother, Jerry.
On Au­gust 3, 1965, Robert was drafted into the U.S. Army. He com­pleted ATP 21-114, rifle M-14 train­ing and was later trained as a clerk typ­ist and per­son­nel as­sis­tant. He pur­sued his pas­sion for art dur­ing his war ser­vice by chron­i­cling his ex­pe­ri­ences in pho­tog­ra­phy, draw­ings, and even a bit of po­etry. He was hon­or­ably dis­charged two years later fol­low­ing the un­ex­pected death of his fa­ther and re­turned home to sup­port his mother and younger sis­ters. He re­ceived the Army Com­men­da­tion Medal for his ser­vice in the coun­terin­sur­gency of the Re­pub­lic of Viet­nam and con­tin­ued to lov­ingly care for his mother, Lucy, until her pass­ing in 2013 at the age of 100.
Robert was a loyal friend and a com­pas­sion­ate neigh­bor. He de­voted much time to lend­ing a hand to his neigh­bor, Mar­garet, be­fore he took over her home, mov­ing him and his mother from the “lit­tle house” on Lynn St. to the big­ger house next door. While there, he car­ried on Mar­garet’s love for gar­den­ing and made his yard a quiet haven for birds and vis­i­tors alike to enjoy. Robert’s love for the out­doors took him to many places through­out his life. He was es­pe­cially fond of his an­nual trips to the beaches of Mex­ico with his good friend Bob and fam­ily, who were surely wait­ing to share some fun times with him once again.
Robert was a metic­u­lous, do-it-your­self guy and put his all into every­thing he did be­cause you “ei­ther do it right, or you don’t do it at all”; a mantra he made sure to pass on to his niece and nephew, Nicki and Gary, who he could often be seen with around town on one of their many ad­ven­tures, often with a sis­ter or two in tow. He en­joyed teach­ing them how to read maps, ride their bikes and hunt for buried trea­sure with his metal de­tec­tor. They en­joyed many ad­ven­tures big and small, from bik­ing the Elroy-Sparta trail and climb­ing at the ledge, to road trips to Mt. Rush­more, the Smokey Moun­tains and Myr­tle Beach with his mother, Lucy, to swim in the ocean; all of which he was sure to cap­ture with a cam­era lens. He poured his love into them as if they were his own and shared his spirit of cu­rios­ity with their chil­dren in his later years.
Robert was a kind and hum­ble man who val­ued his fam­ily and friends above all else. He shared his cu­rios­ity and love of ad­ven­ture with all who held him dear, and their world would surely have been smaller and less ex­cep­tional with­out him in it.
Robert is sur­vived by his sis­ters, Joan (Jim) Schae­fer of Lake Dal­ton, Sandy (Dick) Ster­nat of Bull­head City, AZ, Kath­leen (John) Gaffney of Pe­wau­kee, and Mary Kreuziger of Mayville; brother, David (Mary) Marsch of Hori­con; sis­ters-in-law, Mar­lene “Honey” Jerry (Marsch) of Hori­con and Kather­ine “Kiki” (Ron­nie) Marsch of Beaver Dam; nieces, Con­nie (Dean) Thomas, Cyn­thia (Erik) Perkins and Nicki Keppy; nephews, Greg (Julie) Marsch and Gary (Jess) Kreuziger. Robert is fur­ther sur­vived by great-nephews and nieces, Jen­nifer, Rachel (Schrauf­nagel) and Melissa Thomas, Caitlin and Chloe Marsch, Ryan and Jenna Kreuziger, Owen and Joe Keppy; and great-great-nephews and niece, Will, Lucy, and Henry Schrauf­nagel.
Robert was pre­ceded in death by his par­ents, Wal­ter “Pete” and Lucy Marsch; his broth­ers, Ron­nie and Jerry Marsch; his sis­ter, Carol; his grand­par­ents, Au­gust and Emma Marsch and Guy and Ce­celia Wild; brother-in-law, Kevin Kreuziger. He was fur­ther pre­ceded in death by many spe­cial aunts and un­cles.
A Memo­r­ial Mass of Chris­t­ian Bur­ial for Robert will take place on Thurs­day, May 2, at 1 p.m. at Sa­cred Heart Parish in Hori­con with Rev. Fr. Justin Lop­ina pre­sid­ing. A vis­i­ta­tion for Robert with take place on Thurs­day, May 2, from 11:30 a.m. until the time of ser­vice at 1 p.m. Fol­low­ing the ser­vice, Grave­side Mil­i­tary Hon­ors will be con­ducted by the Hori­con Amer­i­can Le­gion Post #157 at St. Malachy Ceme­tery in Hori­con.
Koepsell Fu­neral Home in Mayville is car­ing for the fam­ily. www.​Koepsellfh.​com