William J. Achterberg Jr.

William J. Achterberg, 87, from the Town of Hamburg, passed away on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

He was born on July 24, 1935, in the town of Goodrich, to the late William and Josephine (Fishbach) Achterberg.  On August 31, 1957 he married Lois Voigt at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Little Chicago. They lived their entire lives in Hamburg, where they raised five children on a farm. She preceded him in death on June 26, 2008.

William, who was known locally as either Bill or Billy, was the owner/operator of Achterberg Logging for many years.  He, along with his wife Lois, farmed in the town of Hamburg during that time. While their farming interests varied from milk cattle to beef cattle, and then back to milk cattle, it wasn't unusual to also see hogs, chickens, ducks and even a few geese over the years. In true farmer fashion, everything that was raised on the farm, also wound up the table sooner or later.

One of his more enjoyable hobbies was spending time in the woods during the Fall, hunting for whatever was in season. He took great pride in his guns and his marksmanship, along with his skills at bagging many trophy bucks during the annual rifle season. I recall one time, during rifle season, that he was bragging about how accurate his rifle was to other  hunters. He claimed that it could shoot the hole out of a doughnut at 75 paces. Of course, after some good natured ribbing amongst the gathered hunters, he upped the ante. He claimed that any steady shooter using his gun could do it including, his 14 year old son. Well, the game was on! A doughnut was grabbed from the table, a pencil sized stick was grabbed off of a nearby tree and thrust through the center of that doughnut and it was placed in the ground about 75 paces from the truck. The would be challenger took careful aim and Bam!, proceeded to clip a chunk out of the inside edge of that doughnut! Well, things were looking pretty good and he believed his shot would be tough to beat! Next up was Bill's son, who placed that rifle across the hood of that truck, took careful aim and Bam!, nothing happened. No doughnut spray or movement at all. Of course that caused a lot of jeering right away, but Bill held up his hand and said 'Hang On, go and grab that doughnut and bring it here'. After a quick trot out into the snow covered field, it was brought back for close inspection. And there it was... a perfect hole right through the center of that stick, in the center of that doughnut hole. I can't imagine how proud he must have felt at that moment.

Bill will be forever remembered as the neighborhood fabricator, craftsman, and local design/builder of farm and logging equipment. Whether he was making something for his own use, or yours, he could make it to fit the specific needs of that specific problem. From heavy duty hay wagons with dual rear tires to logging truck racks that could also dump, his latest project would always be interesting. When he wasn't building something, he invested his time in repairing and maintaining farm equipment. Over the years, he has repaired, overhauled and worked on many pieces of equipment, including an Oliver 77 that his Dad had purchased new. It still runs yet today. Last, but not least, when you needed the “Hail Mary” repair for that obsolete part or piece of equipment, on short notice, he was your man.

As the years passed, he never lost that urge to build one more project or buy one more treasure for his collection of Oliver tractors, logging equipment and bulldozers.

Survivors include a sister, Beulah (Effort) Degner, five children, Jane (Eugene) Westfall, Hamburg, Scott (Lauri) Achterberg, Wausau, Jay Achterberg, Hamburg, Paul (Cindy) Achterberg, Hamburg and Thomas (Amy) Achterberg, Merrill; eleven grandchildren and seven great-granchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, William Sr. and Josephine (Josie) Achterberg, his wife, Lois (Voigt) Achterberg, sisters; Beatrice (Clarence) Kriewald, Viginia (Willard) Duerr, Delores (Raymond) Hopperdietzel, a grandson and a great-grandson.

Funeral Services will be held at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at the Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, Athens.  Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. until the time of services, all at the Athens funeral home.  Online condolences may be expressed at www.petersonkraemer.com