Warren Russell Rebholz
Warren Russell Rebholz died of heart failure on September 2, 2023, age 89, at his beloved home on Swan Lake. He was born in Portage, Wisconsin on August 9, 1934, to Harold Edward Rebholz and Gladys Isabelle (Sutton) Rebholz. A coin toss took his family to Kearny, NJ, but they always returned to spend summers in Portage with grandparents Mabel and Ed. Warren graduated from Kearny High School in 1953, where he excelled in football and attained All State Honors as a junior, was co-captain, and was elected to the KHS Hall of Fame in 2012. He attended the University of Wisconsin on a football scholarship (B.S. 1957 in Physical Education and History, and M.S. 1969 in Counseling and Guidance) while working in the summers at a factory canning peas and pickles to pay college expenses.
After participating in ROTC, Warren entered active military service in 1957, completing the Basic Infantry Officers course at Fort Benning, GA before receiving flight training at Army Aviation School at Camp Gary in San Marcos, TX. His first assignment was in the 4th Aviation Company in the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, WA where he flew the L19 Bird Dog and L20 Beaver Army observation aircraft. After leaving active duty, he served in the Army Reserves from 1960-1978, retiring as a Major with Army Senior Aviator Wings and the Army Reserve Medal for Meritorious Service. While putting in required flight hours, he was known to fly with Dorothy from Milwaukee to Bloomer for lunch with his in-laws, sometimes ending up in the local paper. Also, he often flew low over Swan Lake and up the hill over his cottage to greet family and friends.
Warren worked at Greenfield High School, Greenfield, WI from 1961 until 1991 where he served as a guidance counselor and department chair, was assistant coach for football and swimming, turned heads in his white 1962 Corvette, threw annual Christmas parties for staff with fancy spiral sandwiches and little meatballs, and met his wife of 60 years, Dorothy. (As the story goes, Dorothy was on the lookout for eligible single teachers, checking in over the summer with the vice principal, Clyde Wallenfang, about the new hires. One day, Clyde exclaimed, “Dorothy, I just hired your future husband!”) Warren thoroughly enjoyed working with the fine students, athletes, teachers, and parents at GHS and cherished the memories from those 30 years.
In retirement, Warren built his timber framed “cathedral” on Swan Lake, where he relished family life and spent his time adorning his house, inside and out, with beautiful things he created. He landscaped with bricks and stone he retrieved with his trailer when the old streets of Portage were torn up, kept perfect grass, and was always adding another flower bed while vowing to “cut back next year.” The inside of his home is decorated with his carvings, watercolor paintings, drawings, photographs, and stained glass, some of which he shared, along with art from his daughter and mother, in a 2018 Portage Center for the Arts exhibition “Once Upon a Lake.” He spent this spring carving “Grandma Mabel’s Singing Canaries” and mounting them in a cage with a button to press to play canary songs. He delighted in the memories from his childhood and the smiles produced when people saw the canaries which he exhibited at PCA’s “Art that Blooms” in June. Often he woke just after 3 AM, sat in a favorite chair cocooned by the timbers of his house, and occupied his mind by planning his next great project.
Warren also loved to “take a left” and wander away from his normal routine and let the day take him on a new adventure, maybe to a favorite birding spot like Goose Pond, to a country restaurant or butcher shop, to the Baraboo hills, or to Madison for shopping. His hobbies also included golf, birdwatching, fishing, repairing clocks, lapidary and metal work, and overall exposure to the arts. For 21 years, he was Portage’s self declared “Best Bell Ringer” for the Salvation Army, attracting attention to his donation kettle by whistling carols. Warren took advantage of public vocational schools and private instructors to keep learning new things throughout his life and wanted to recognize his special teachers Ed Barsness, Homer Daehn, and Boyce Totz. He was a strong advocate for the importance of the arts in one’s life. Warren urged, “Get out and enjoy the great benefits of our state. Education is a lifelong process. Create!”
Warren is survived by his loving wife, Dorothy, the children he called “the best” Karen (Joseph Meara) and Kurt (Jenny) Rebholz, and grandchildren Rowan (Rachel Feldman) and Aidan Meara and Kyle (Amber) and Megan Rebholz, and great grandsons Mason and Carter Rebholz. He is also survived by sister-in-law Barbara Hassemer; special cousins Nan, F. Thomas (Sue), and James A. (Kathleen) Rebholz, and Jeff Nania; nieces and nephews Cindy Schally, David (Cheryl), Mark, and Jon (Christi) Rebholz, Michelle (Ric) Pearson, and Sheila Johnson; and many unfinished projects. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Harold S. Rebholz, cousin Ted Rebholz, in-laws Joan Choo, Jeanne Rebholz, and Todd Hassemer, and niece Tracy Busse.
Visitation will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Portage on Thursday, September 7, at 9:30 followed by a funeral service at 11:00 and burial at Silver Lake Cemetery with military honors provided by the Portage Area Veterans Honor Guard. Lunch at the church will follow. Wear your holly pins! Warren asked that memorials be given to Portage Center for the Arts, International Crane Foundation, and Madison Audubon.
The Pflanz Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage is assisting the family.
