John Zehfus, 91, of Sheboygan, passed away on November 30, 2019 at Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice. John was born November 3, 1928, in Monticello, Wis., the son of Adam and Lina (Mueller) Zehfus. He grew up in Jefferson, Wis., and graduated from Jefferson High School in 1946 followed by Carthage College in 1950. He married Colleen Cook in Fort Atkinson, Wis., on Sept 2, 1950, and moved to Weyauwega, Wis., shortly after that.
He with his brother, Richard, and father, were owners of Wolf River Sausage Company in Weyauwega. He was also on the Presbyterian Church Session, a Sunday school teacher, and active with the Boy Scouts. He was also president of the Y-O-Wega Bowhunters.
John and Colleen moved to Sheboygan in 1974 where he was the sausage formulation supervisor at Old Wisconsin Sausage. He had previously been a sausage maker in New Glarus and Marshfield. John belonged to Ebenezer UCC in Sheboygan where he was very involved, serving twice as elder and one year as President. He was a member of the Elks Lodge 299 for many years and also served in the National Guard for nine years.
John enjoyed hunting and fishing and was a member the Ruffed Grouse Society. In his youth, he enjoyed sports, playing football for Jefferson High and Carthage College. He also participated in the Quincy, Ill., Golden Gloves boxing competition and won at Novice Heavyweight.
John lost his beloved Colleen ‘Connie’ in 2003 to cancer. He later married his new love, Lucille Kralovetz, on June 25, 2005. They shared many happy years together before she passed in August 2017. John is survived by his two sons, Mark of Sheboygan, and Dr. Micheal of Spearfish, S.D., and their wives Charyl and Betty, along with his four grandchildren, Corey (Oceanside, CA), Teresa (Chicago, Ill.), Holly (St. Louis, M.O.), and Lily (Wauwatosa, Wis.), along with Lu’s children, Gordon, Katie, and Bonnie.
A funeral service will be held for John at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 8, 2019 at Reinbold-Novak Funeral Home, 1535 S. 12
th
St., Sheboygan, with visitation from 2:00 p.m. until the time of the service at 4:00 p.m. Condolences may be expressed online at
www.reinboldfh.com
.
