Patricia Wagen

Patricia E. Wagen took many of the customers at Wagen’s Bar and Grill in Saukville under her wing.

The bar, which she and her husband Jim bought about 1987 and operated for 25 years, was like the bar made famous in the television show “Cheers,” where customers knew each other.

Mrs. Wagen was well known for the food she made for customers, particularly the soups, her family said.

“Most of it was bar food — burger and fish fries. But she made fantastic soups,” her daughter Dani Faucette said. “People would come in just for them.”

Her customer favorites included Italian wedding soup, split pea soup, beef barley soup and chili, her daughter said.

“She liked to experiment, too,” she added.

The Wagens hosted an annual customer appreciation picnic, and Mrs. Wagen made all the food for that as well.

Mrs. Wagen drew on her years as a stay-at-home mom in cooking for customers, her son Jim said.

“She did a lot of cooking,” he said, citing as favorites her Polish chop suey and chicken balls with booze noodles.

Mrs. Wagen, who lived in Port Washington, died Thursday, Oct. 3, at Lawlis Family Hospice in Mequon. She was 83.

A native of Fox Lake, Ill., she was born on Nov. 14, 1935, to John and Elizabeth Newlen.

She married Elmer “Al” Mannes Jr. in Las Vegas on Dec. 31, 1956. They had five children and lived in several cities before moving to Mequon, Amherst and later to Whitefish Bay.

Mr. Mannes died in 1972.

Mrs. Wagen later reconnected with James Wagen, a childhood friend whose sister was a close friend. The couple married on Oct. 1, 1973.

Mrs. Wagen worked for the House of Harley before the couple decided to open their own business. They bought the Forest Lodge Resort in Boulder Junction and ran it for several years.

“It was really kind of a cool place,” her daughter said. The resort consisted of cottages where people would stay and a lodge where they would dine.

Mrs. Wagen would cook along with the chef, and the couple also did whatever jobs needed to be done. It was a lot of work, and a few years later they sold the business and moved back to Whitefish Bay.

But the hospitality business beckoned, and they bought Wagen’s Bar and Grill a couple years later.

Mr. Wagen died in 2017.

Mrs. Wagen enjoyed crocheting, a hobby she recently picked up again, doing crossword puzzles and watching television shows.

At one point, she had five VCRs hooked up to her television to record all the shows she enjoyed, her son said.

She and her husband, who was a motorcycle mechanic, owned a Harley Davidson motorcycle and enjoyed traveling throughout Wisconsin and to place such as Kentucky and Sturgis, S.D.

“Both of them were characters,” her son Jim said.

He described his mother as “a less humorous Lucille Ball. She was a prankster.”

Mrs. Wagen also enjoyed dressing up, he said, adding, “whenever she went out, she had to be looking her best, whether it was in jeans, a T-shirt and motorcycle boots or dressed up for a wedding.”

Mrs. Wagen is survived by her children Dani (Ron) Faucette of Mequon, Joel Mannes and Jay (Mary) Mannes, both of Saukville, and James Mannes of Port Washington; grandchildren Ronald G. Faucette III, Richard (Ashley) Faucette, Harley Mannes and Jackie Mannes; one great-granddaughter; and her close friend William Heyden of Port Washington.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, son John Mannes and sisters Daisy, Cora and Florence.

Mrs. Wagen will be buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Mequon.

A memorial gathering will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Cedars III Bowling Center in Cedarburg.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to a charity of the donor’s choice are suggested.

Funeral arrangements are being handled through Eernisse Funeral Home, Port Washington.