Florian Bradfish

Florian Leo Bradfish, of Rothschild, died Monday, November 25th, at Mt. View Care Center, Wausau under the care of Aspirus Hospice.

Florian was born July 20, 1935 in Rib Falls, son of the late Frederick and Mary (Reuter) Bradfish. He graduated from Wausau East High School in 1953.  In 1957, Florian enlisted in the Army Ready Reserve for 6 months Active Duty for Training and then 6 years reserves. He married Lana Juedes September 2, 1961 at St. Mark Catholic Church. He worked for France Sales and Service (during which time he attended many service schools) and Drott Manufacturing, which became JI Case. He retired from JI Case in 1992. He then worked for Ed Creske at Meritt Inn (Best Western) and Comfort Inn for ten years.

Florian was the “handy man for many.” He liked repairing lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc. Anything that needed fixing or repair, Florian took on with his self-taught abilities without hesitation any time of day or night. It wasn’t unusual to see him headed out at 10 pm to fix a furnace. Amongst everything that Florian was, he also helped in any way for anyone that he loved, even if that meant dressing up as Santa Claus for local families for the holiday season. Florian also had served faithfully as an usher at St. Mark Catholic Church and helped many years with the June Bug Fest.

Florian is survived by his wife of 58 years, Lana; their three sons, Alan (Christina) of Weston, Arlin (Karen) of Rib Mountain and Darrell of Weston; and their daughter Carla (Todd Luedtke) Corazalla of Merrill; their nine grandchildren, Nicholas (Wendy) Bradfish of Framingham, MA, Justin (Stephanie) Bradfish of Kronenwetter, Matthew (Brittany) Bradfish of Mosinee, Kaylee (Derek Kurth) Bradfish of Weston, Caitlin Bradfish of Weston, Joshua (Alexa Kufalk) Corazalla of Kronenwetter, Cassidy Bradfish of Weston, Tyler Corazalla of Mosinee, Cooper Bradfish of Weston; and their two great-grandchildren Jackson and Meridith Bradfish of Kronenwetter. He is further survived by three sisters, Lucille VanderGeest of Wausau, Elizabeth (Billy) Stoltz of Schofield and Mary Jane (Keith) Cannon of Rothschild; and sister-in-law Barbara Bradfish of Kronenwetter. Florian was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Victor, Leonard and Norman, his brother-in-law Rich VanderGeest, and his sister-in-law Phyllis Bradfish.

Services will be Saturday, November 30th at Brainard Funeral Home- Everest Chapel, 5712 Memorial Court, Weston. Visitation will be from 9:00 am to 11:00 am with the funeral service at 11:00 am. The Rev. Allan Slowiak will officiate. Burial with Military Honors will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Kronenwetter. Pallbearers will be Florian’s six grandsons and honorary pallbearers will be his three granddaughters.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research, 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871, or a charity of your choice.

Brainard Funeral Home- Everest Chapel is assisting the family.