IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Robert Laverne

Robert Laverne Kashuba Profile Photo

Kashuba

Jul 25, 1929 — Dec 10, 2021

Whitehall

Obituary

Robert Laverne Kashuba, age 92, of Whitehall, died on Friday, December 10, 2021 in his home in the company of his son, Robert Simon.

Robert was born on July 25, 1929 at the family home to Andrew and Agnes (Kuchinski) Kashuba and was baptized at the Holy Ghost Catholic Church, both in Milwaukee.

Robert's father was a firefighter and died far too soon from pneumonia resulting from fighting a fire, leaving Robert, his Mom, older brother, Andrew Jr. and their four sisters.  Andrew Jr. took over the responsibilities along with his mother to provide for the family.

After grade school, Robert enrolled at the Pallottine Seminary College in Milwaukee for his last four high school years, graduating in 1947, contemplating for a short time becoming a priest.  After a lot of thought, the decision was made to go out into the world and see what life had in store for him.

Robert enlisted in the United States Army and served in Korea for over three years, receiving an honorable discharge with the rank of Corporal in 1954.  Following service, he worked several jobs including working for the Parks Department and County Hospital in the Milwaukee area.

He later acquired a lease through Clark to operate one of their gas stations, selling gas at 25 cents per gallon.

While Robert was in the service home on leave, he met his future wife, Agnes Marsolek, at a restaurant where she worked as a waitress.  He dated her after his discharge from the service and while running the Clark Station. After a year Robert decided to acquire employment with the city of Milwaukee Water Department reading meters home to home.

After their engagement, Robert married Agnes on May 5, 1956 at Saint John's Catholic Church in Whitehall.  They made their home in Milwaukee and on July 31, 1958, they welcomed a son, Robert Simon.

During 1958, Robert decided to try selling insurance as an agent through the Prudential Life Insurance Company for approximately ten years.  He then transferred to the Woodman of the World Life Insurance Company and the decision was made to move the family closer to Agnes's parents to help them on their farm in Whitehall in March of 1968, continuing working for Woodman of the World throughout 1968.

Robert acquired a position as a plant guard for the Whitehall Packing Company.  When Pinkerton Detective Agency took over guards of Whitehall Packing and Allis Chalmers in LaCrosse, he was promoted to sergeant, requiring him to be in charge of the guard at both plants.

After Whitehall Packing closed and Pinkerton ended their contract with them, Robert acquired employment at Northern Flexible Products in Galesville, starting as a machine operator, then moving to shipping and receiving.

After several years, Robert decided to take a position with Reinforced Thermoplastics (RTP) in Winona, MN, a division of Fibrite, working with many different plastics and dyes for approximately 25 years and formed the Winona Free Union until his retirement at the age of 67.

Robert enjoyed reading, woodworking and do-it-yourself projects. For a time, he had an in home appliance repair he called Bob's Fix-It.

When Robert's wife's health began to fail, he became her full time caregiver, devoting his life solely to her until she passed away on January 25, 2017. Not long after, Robert's health began to fail and he was diagnosed with COPD and emphysema.  This went on for several years and then in July of 2021 he was diagnosed with cancer.  After receiving several radiation treatments and several more tests, Robert was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

Robert remained living with his son, who became his caregiver since late August of 2020 up until the time of his passing.

Robert is survived by his son, Robert Simon and a sister, Nancy Doxtater.

In addition to his parents and wife, Robert was preceded in death by a brother, Andrew Jr. and three sisters, Betty Grossmeier, Pat Ozdenk and Barbara Christenson.

Graveside services with military rites will be held on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Cemetery in Whitehall with Father George officiating.

Visitation will be Tuesday, December 14, 2021 from 4-6 p.m. in the Jack Funeral Home in Whitehall where a Christian prayer service will be held at 6:00 p.m.

The Jack Funeral Home in Whitehall is assisting the family with arrangements.

To plant a memorial tree in memory, please visit our tree store.

Funeral Services

Visitation

December
14

Tuesday

4:00 - 6:00 pm

Prayer Service

December
14

Tuesday

Starts at 6:00 pm

Graveside Service

December
15

Wednesday

Starts at 1:00 pm

Guestbook

Visits: 1

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors