Dennis Anthony Meulemans

Dennis (Denny) Meulemans, age 75, went home to be with Jesus, his Lord and Savior, on January 5th, 2023. Denny was born on August 8th, 1947, to the late Norbert and Cecelia (Verhagen) Meulemans, in Wrightstown, Wisconsin. He married Christy Meulemans on December 23rd, 1975. Together they had many wonderful adventures all over the world. Their biggest adventure of course was raising their 6 rambunctious children on their hobby farm in Cato.

Denny grew up on a dairy farm in Wrightstown and always kept his love for farming and farmers. He graduated high school in De Pere at Abbot Pennings in 1965. He went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied Agriculture. At graduation time he was two credits short due to often skipping his “Marriage and the Family'' class which became a running joke in the Meulemans family because he of course went on to be happily married for 47 years and a proud, very involved father of six. He later worked on his Agricultural Master’s Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In his career he taught Agriculture at East DePere High School, D.C. Everest High School, and Valders High School. He went on to work as a feed and seed salesman and as a crop inspector for the state of Wisconsin.

In the 70’s he spent time in the Peace Corps and always kept a special place in his heart for the people, country, and language of Kenya - even giving his daughter Meghan a Swahili middle name- Malaika or “Angel”. It was always his dream to return to Africa and in 2007, he was able to go back with some of the family to spend the summer in Uganda working with the nonprofit African Children’s Mission.

He was a kind, giving, and joyous person and made friends wherever he went. He loved God, his family, travel, fishing, photography, coaching his sons in baseball, and telling (and laughing at his own) jokes. He had an affinity for duct tape, even using it to make a makeshift Santa beard out of cotton balls to use on a visit to a local nursing home. His mischievous grin and fun personality will be remembered and cherished by all that knew him.

Denny will be forever in the hearts of his loving family: wife, Christy Meulemans; son, Abe (Becky) Meulemans and their children, Clay, Gavin, Maddox, and Lilly; daughter, Meghan (Ken) Skrepenski and their children, Grace and Amelia; daughter, Joy (Mick) Kleinhans and their children Max and Gus; son, Jon (Kayla) Meulemans and their son Harry and baby due May 2023; son, Zack (Linette) Meulemans and their children Isabelle, Liam, and Haiden; son, Joe (Annie) Meulemans and their daughter Margot; father-in-law, Dr. Willard Janssen, sister-in-law, Monica Meulemans; siblings: Ken (Lynn) Meulemans, Diane (Jerome) Schreiber, Joyce (Glenn) Hansen, and Jeff (Carol) Meulemans; in-laws: Angel Janssen (Reid Susmark), Beth Janssen (Paul Klein), Mark Janssen (Meg Doolan), Gil-Marie Janssen (Dan Carr), Jack (Jan) Janssen, Greg (Rosie) Janssen, Jo-Ellen (Bryan) Randolph  and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Denny was preceded in death by his parents, Norbert and Cecelia Meulemans; mother-in-law, Mary Jo Janssen; brother, Vern Meulemans; sister, Donna Uitenbroek, and brother-in-law, Paul Uitenbroek.

Visitation will be Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm at The Cross Church, 740 Grand Avenue, Schofield, WI 54476. Service will begin at 1:00 pm with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to African Children’s Mission at www.africanchildrensmission.org or to Wisconsin Parkinson Association at www.wiparksinson.org

Thank you to all those involved with Denny’s care at Care Partners Assisted Living, to the Interim caring hospice team, and Lakeland Care District.