Gregory Ralph Courchene Sr.'s Obituary
Gregory Ralph Courchene, Sr. entered eternal life on June 4, 2017.
Greg was born in Chicago, IL., on July 22, 1941, the eldest of 4 children of the late Ralph and Eleanor Bolewski Courchene. He served with the Marshall Police Dept. and in 1966, he returned to Chicago where Greg joined the Chicago Police Dept. Promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1978, he served in several assignments, the last 12 years as supervisor of a Tactical Team in the Loop area, retiring in 1992, after 26 years of service. They relocated to Oshkosh on his retirement. In retirement, he worked on a dairy farm in Van Dyne for about 10 years. He loved hunting and enjoyed fishing and trap shooting. He served as president of the Van Dyne Sportsmen's Club for about 15 years. Greg was an active member of St. Jude the Apostle Parish (St Vincent De Paul) and as a trained presider for the Diocese of Green Bay, served a variety of functions in his Parish.
Greg married the love of his life, Shirley (Williams) at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Church, Chicago, Illinois on January 6, 1962. He was a devoted husband, Dad, Grandpa, brother, uncle and friend to many. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Shirley; their children Mary (Mike) Van Rossum of Kaukauna, Gregory (Julie) Courchene Jr. of Oshkosh and Ann Marie (James) Diers of Athens. He impacted the lives of his grandchildren Russell, Cynthia, Thomas, Andrew, Alec Swaw, Susan (Eric) Lindgren, Amanda (Chris) Swaw-Wyer, Jessica, Bill and Laura Courchene, Hannah, Stella Cole, Jared Diers , Rachel, Robin and Noelle Van Rossum and will be greatly missed. He is also survived by several great-grandchildren. He is further survived by his brother, Phillip Courchene of Big Bear, Ca and Kathy Gigante of Chicago, Il.; in-laws Carol Williams, Roy (Lynn) Williams, Bonnie Porch, Betty (Vic) DelMar, Calvin (Susan) Williams, Rita (Patrick) Donovan and Richard (Marge) Williams and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Ralph and Eleanor Courchene, Harold and Berniece Williams, his sister Janice Buccheri and brothers-in-law and friends, Marvin Williams, Glenn Porch, Jim Buccheri and Tom Gigante.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Greg on Friday, June 9, 2017 at 11 a.m. in St. Jude Parish, St. Vincent Catholic Church, the corner of Oregon St. and South Park Ave. A time of visitation will be held at the Fiss & Bills-Poklasny Funeral Home, 865 S. Westhaven Dr. from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday evening. A parish prayer service will be held at the funeral home on Thursday at 7 p.m. A time of visitation will be also held at the church on Friday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Mass.
The family would like to thank Dr. Virani and the Vince Lombardi Cancer Center as well as the compassionate nursing staff on 2 North at Aurora Medical Center.
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