Wilfred E. Krainz

    Longtime Port Washington resident Wilfred E. Krainz knew how to fix “anything and everything,” his daughter Karen Krainz said.
    “He was such a handyman,” she said. “He could fix anything, and when he did it, he would teach us kids so we could do it, too.”
    When his children grew up, Mr. Krainz made sure they left home equipped with a toolbox filled with the necessities of life.
    His daughter recalled a time when her water heater went out while she was living in Chicago.
    “I called dad and he talked me through how to fix it,” she said. “I was so worried I would get shocked. He said, ‘Karen, do you think I would let you get shocked?’
    “I told the people at work what happened, and they were amazed. They said they would never try to fix a water heater.”
    Mr. Krainz, who was better known as Willie,” died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease Thursday, Aug. 2, at Lasata Care Center in Cedarburg. He was 88.
    Mr. Krainz was born in Port Washington on Sept. 21, 1929, to John and Johanna Rotscheck Krainz.
    He graduated from Port Washington High School in 1948, then worked in the print shop at Port Publications until 1951, when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.
    He served in the Marines until 1954, earning the rank of staff sergeant.
    On Sept, 22, 1956, he married Patricia Werner at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Port Washington.
    The couple raised their family on Roger Street in Port, where they lived for more than 50 years.
    After Mr. Krainz left the Marine Corps, he worked for the City of Port Washington Water Department for 12 years, then later went to work at J&H Heating in Port Washington. He retired in 1994.
    Mr. Krainz was a charter member of the Port Washington Leathernecks and a long-standing member of the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Post 82.
    He was also a member of St. John XXIII Catholic Parish.
    Mr. Krainz loved the outdoors, his daughter said, and he brought his children along much of the time, instilling a love of nature in them, too.
    He was a hunter who belonged to the Buckskin Bowman and Wisconsin Bowhunters Association.
    He always had a dog, usually a Labrador, his daughter said.
    An outgoing man, Mr. Krainz was known as a joker, his daughter said.
    “He was funny,” she said. “And he would go to great lengths to make people laugh.”
    Mr. Krainz is survived by his wife Pat; children Peg (John) Lyons of Elgin, Ill., Linda (Dave Kline) Krainz of Grafton, Gary (Karen) of Newburg and Karen (Steve DeMerit) Krainz of Port Washington; grandchildren Shannon and Jonathan Lyons and Nicole and Desirae Moza; and two great-grandchildren.
    He was preceded in death by his son Jon; sister Mary Wildhagen; brother John; brothers-in-law John “Jeep” Wildhagen and Barry Werner; and sisters-in-law Janet Krainz and Betty Werner.
    A memorial Mass was celebrated Tuesday, Aug. 7, at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Mary’s Church, in Port Washington. Father Patrick Wendt officiated.
    Interment with military honors was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Port Washington.
    Memorials to the Jon Krainz Memorial Scholarship, Port Washington High School Community Scholarship Foundation, are suggested.
    Funeral arrangements were handled through Poole Funeral Home and Crematory in Port Washington.