Leonard Stefaniak

Leonard Stefaniak died peacefully at home with his family by his side. After surviving a difficult battle with cancer in his 30s, Len chose not to see a doctor for more than 40 years (except once recently to get an exemption letter to get out of jury duty). He lived and died the way he wanted to. He was at peace most of the days of his life and especially at the end. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Mary and Leonard Stefaniak. Len was the “Number One” son of six siblings, a title his mother never let the family forget. Leonard was the salutatorian of Muskego class of 1965 then attended UW-Milwaukee for a brief time to study history. Once he met his beloved Lana (née Malueg) then they made history of their own. Though he was shy at first, Lana’s mother coached Len to “be more aggressive”, then a life long romance began. As the oldest of 6, Len was a dedicated big brother. He coached baseball, milked cows alongside his brothers, brought the love of snowmobiling to the family, and showed off his hot rods on the country roads of Muskego. The love for the family was always important to him. Sheepshead club with his mother Mary was one of his favorite spots on Saturday nights for many years. Throughout his life, Len was the glue that held the Stefaniak family and friends together. He would spend time weekly either in his famous mancave or on the telephone with each sibling, son/daughter, and/or cousin for hours. Marine Bank was where he called home for more than 25 years, running the printing department. When downsized by Bank One at age 54, he then ran “Stefaniak Graphics” out of his garage with 3 employees, his sister, sister-in-law, and Lana as the shrinkwrapper. While he missed his friends at the bank, he was happy to be working from home taking lunch breaks in his basement retreat. Oh, his man caves were epic. We can all remember basement parties watching the Brewers, Packers, or NASCAR while Len shared stories. He was witty with words in both storytelling and written notes drawing vocabulary from his probably over 10,000 crosswords completed in his life. His biggest accomplishment in life was his family. He showered them with eternal devotion and love. Len and Lana shared 54 beautiful years together raising their children, traveling to some favorite spots including Colorado, Deadwood, South Dakota, Door County, and St. Germain. Len and Lana were always together whether at the casino, snowmobiling up north, harvesting the garden via canning, playing over 5,000 games of Rummikub together, or just sitting on the porch enjoying each other’s company. While the decision to leave his beloved Muskego home was hard, he grew to love his pond side retreat in Green Bay. He moved (or Lana forced him) to be closer to his grandchildren whom he loved more than anything. He bestowed his knowledge of trail maintenance, puzzles, cards and 70’s rock onto them. The spirit of Leonard was calm, supportive, welcoming,and loving. He never raised his voice. We will miss his gentle voice and laugh. He was a person that was your quiet cheerleader, willing to give you clues to the crossword puzzle of life but not the right-out answer. He wanted you to figure out the solution on your own with his support. We could all be vulnerable around him. He was accepting of anyone and anything. His love language was a growl. The Stefaniak growl will live on through his children and grandchildren. He is preceded in death by: his beloved mother Mary, father Leonard, in- laws, uncles, aunts, and in recent years 2 beloved sister in laws (Terri, wife of #3 son and Debbie, wife of #5 son). HIs childhood horse Jim and puppies Cleo and Dakota will be waiting on the far side of the rainbow bridge for him. He is survived by: Wife Lana,Son Thomas (Colonel Jacqueline Stingl), Daughter Heather (Dr. ChrisThompson), Grandsons Hunter and Sawyer , 4 brothers: Mike (Debbie), Mark, Jim (Luanne), Terry, one sister Lisa Danes (Ted), many nieces, nephews, cousins ,grandnieces/nephews.

I love you dad and will miss you every day of my life, Heather.