Gilbert E. Blechl's Obituary
Gilbert E. Blechl, age 98, of Oshkosh, WI died Monday, April 28, 2025 at Country Villa in Omro, WI.
He was born on January 21, 1927 in Oshkosh, WI, the son of Frank and Clara Blechl. He married Emogene B. Clow on July 17, 1948 at St. John’s Catholic Church. He was employed as a machine repairman, at Rockwell International and as a mail sorter at the Oshkosh Post Office. He was a proud member of the Merchant Marines during WWII, at the young age of 17, on the USS Donner Lake Tanker as a seaman. He enjoyed golfing, bowling, racquetball, fishing, playing cards and pool. He was able to fix just about anything and was lovingly known to his family as MacGyver.
He was a faithful and wonderful husband to the love of his life Emogene to the very end. He had 7 children, 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren. Survivors include his 6 daughters, Susan (Thomas) Dillie of AZ, Janette (Greig) Fennell of PA, Karen Blechl of TX, Terry (Bruce)Dittmer of TX, Linda (Donn)Bartelt of WI and Laura (Chris) Jacobsen of CO.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Emogene (Clow-Blechl), his son, John Blechl, his parents, Frank and Clara (Traxler)Blechl, his siblings, Wilma Kalous, Frank, Gerald, James Blechl and great-grandson Benedict Johnson.
Visitation will be held at St. Jude the Apostle Parish (Sacred Heart Church) 519 Knapp St., Oshkosh, WI from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.to be followed by a funeral mass, on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
The family would like to express a loving thank you to all the wonderful caregivers at Country Villa who provided such loving care to him the last few years of his life. Also, many thanks to St. Croix Hospice, especially Melissa, who had a way with Gibby like no other. Gib-issims were “I always tried to treat people like I wanted to be treated”, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right” and “Drive slow and aim straight”. He was forever a die-hard Cub Fan.
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