Ervin Ziegel Jr.

Ervin Ziegel Jr., passed away peacefully on July 8, 2025, at the age of 90.

He was born on Christmas Day 1934 in Hamburg, Wisconsin, to Ervin Sr. and Norma Ziegel. He was one of eight children. Outside his service in the US Army, he lived most of his life in the Wausau area.

On September 6, 1958, Erv married Ruth and the couple were together for six decades. They had three daughters: Lori, Sherri, and Debra (passed in infancy). Ruth preceded him in death in 2019.

He previously worked at Kraft Foods in various capacities and later as an acoustic ceiling installer for Sullivan Brothers. He was especially proud to have hung ceilings at one of his grandson Joe’s schools in Hortonville, Wisconsin.

Erv was very active in his local community, especially as a long-standing member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Wausau, where he worked with its chapter of Orphan Grain Train and served the church in many other capacities. He was also a longtime member of Trailmates Snowmobile Club and greatly enjoyed winter rides around the yard with family and further afield in the upper Midwest.

Erv and Ruth traveled frequently together up north and on bus trips around the Midwest, in addition to seeing family outside Wausau. He also went on a Never Forgotten Honor Flight in 2014 with other veterans to Washington, DC. A lover of the outdoors, he hunted and fished locally and on trips out west with family and friends. Many of those same family and friends, Kraft Foods coworkers, along with carpenter union colleagues, former baseball teammates, and church friends, could be found at local restaurants for breakfasts, where they shared too many conversations than one table should be able to handle.

He will be remembered most of all for the love for his family, his quick laugh, and his inclination to put one more cherry in your kiddie cocktail or old fashioned than you asked for.

He is survived by children, Lori (Mike) and Sherri (Mark); grandson, Joe (Maija); sisters, Rosemary and Janice; sisters-in-law, Florence and Beverly; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth; daughter, Debra; and other family: Imogene, Wally, Isabelle, Wyman, Ivan, Elton, Carol, Jerry, Ken, Dave, Ethel, Eugene, LaVerna, and Carl.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 600 Stevens Drive, Wausau. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery with military honors accorded by American Legion Montgomery Plant Dudley Post #10. Online condolences may be expressed at www.petersonkraemer.com.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established. His family would like to thank all those who called and visited him these past months, neighbors who looked out for him, and his outstanding caregivers.