Donald F. Koranda

Donald Frank Koranda of Eagle River joined his heavenly family on Sunday, March 6th, 2016. He was 73. When he was just 21 years old Don lost both his parents within six months of each other. Shortly after he met and later married his first wife Regina Reilly, becoming a trusted and loyal member of the extended Reilly family. Don and Regina raised their three children, Scott, Michelle and Brian in Chicago, later moving to Woodruff in 1975. Don led the Cub Scouts, coached Little League, and visited the public library with his children every week. In 1987 Don married E. Jean (Nagle) Hanneman of Eagle River and took the role of a loving father to step-daughters Lori and Karol. His five children never went without and always knew their father was on their side. Don worked hard his entire life. In Chicago Don discovered his love of drafting and engineering at the Crane Company. After moving to Woodruff Don tried his hand at a few different trades but eventually returned to engineering and became a Senior Engineering Technician at Marathon Electric in Wausau, WI. Don persistently and steadily pursued his education, first attending Chicago Junior College and later earning a Bachelor of Science Degree from UW-Platteville in the Extended Degree program. Well into his retirement Don took classes as North Central Technical College and later taught a semester of technical drawing at the Antigo campus. Don retired in 2007 and quickly filled his days with biking, tending to his hosta garden and attending his grandchildren’s sporting events, concerts and plays. Don treasured staying in touch. Weekends were spent traveling to visit his cousins in Michigan, his children’s families in Wauwatosa, Minneapolis or Crandon, or his brother in Rochester. He traveled as far as Georgia and Hawaii to visit family. Later when unable to travel, Don took full advantage of evening and weekend minutes to call his children, cousins and friends, keeping all of us centered on family. His Sunday evening calls were a constant and will be dearly missed by all. Don was a member of the Holy Catholic Family church in Woodruff and helped coordinate Summerfest. More recently he led introductory computing classes for seniors. Don is survived by his wife E. Jean, sons Scott (Shelly) and Brian (Nicole), daughter Michelle (Jay), step-daughters Lori (Mike) and Karol (Jason), and brother Keith (Ann). His grandchildren Sam, Nicholas, Emily, Jeremy, Lucas, Jennifer, Jade, Damon, Tyler, Camryn and his great grandson Mason were his pride and joy. He is further survived by many loving cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. Don was preceded in death by his twin brother David, and his parents Frank and Clara (Cygan) Koranda. Funeral services for Don will be on Tuesday, March 15 at 12:00 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff with visitation beginning 10 a.m. Don’s wish was to be buried at St. Mary’s cemetery in Chicago with his twin brother and their parents.

Donald F. Koranda

April 8, 1942 - March 6, 2016