Robert Casper Anderegg

Robert Casper Anderegg, died Monday, February 6 of natural causes. He was born in Minneapolis on June 27, 1920, the son of John and Kathryn Michalski Anderegg. As a young child, he moved to White Lake, Wisconsin, where his father was the bookkeeper at the Yawkey-Bissell lumber mill. As a small-town boy in northern Wisconsin, he roamed the fields and woods, hunted for small game, fished in the lake, and helped his parents in their vegetable garden. (This part of his life was lovingly described in the book A Tale of Four Seasons that Rob wrote in his mid-eighties). He attended White Lake High School, where he met the love of his life, Anita Bubolz. He graduated first in his class in 1938, and entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he graduated with a degree in Business Administration in 1942. He enlisted in the army that year and served with the 103rd Infantry Division, seeing action in France and Germany. He and Anita were married on Christmas Eve in 1943, on an Army base in Texas, with GIs dressed as angels serving as attendants (they were rehearsing for the base Christmas pageant). After his honorable discharge in 1945, the family moved to Milwaukee, where he worked as an accountant for Arthur Andersen and Company. In 1957, Rob took a job at Kiekhaefer Mercury in Fond du Lac, where he eventually became Comptroller, and then Executive Vice-President. He ended his career at Mercury as President of the Mercury Mariner International. His work at Mariner took him all over the world; he made good friends in Brussels and Brazil, Tokyo and Australia, Fiji and Hong Kong. But his favorite place was his home with Anita in Fond du Lac (and also Honolulu, where they vacationed every year). In 1959, after the deaths of his beloved sister Rose Marie Nadler and her husband, he became the guardian of Rose's three children, who moved to Fond du Lac and who Rob raised as his own. He presided over a kitchen table full of seven noisy children with dignity and good humor, and drove the family station wagon full of kids with competence but somewhat less good humor. Rob was active in community affairs throughout his life. He was on the boards of directors of the Fond du Lac Area United Way, the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, the Fond du Lac YMCA, and the South Hills Club. He served as chapter chairman of the American Red Cross, was the founder and first president of Junior Achievement in Fond du Lac. He served as the Headwaters District Chairman of the Badger Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Chairman of the Council of Associates of the Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges. He was a long-time member of Rotary International. He served on the Board of Directors of Fox Valley Savings and Loan for 36 years. In his retirement, he was a volunteer for Agnesian Health Care, where he logged more than 2700 hours transporting patients to and from the floors. He retired from Mercury in 1982, and spent his later years cooking for and taking care of Anita while she campaigned and worked as Fond du Lac County Executive. He was as devoted to her career as she was to his, and their loving and supportive partnership was a model for all their children. He also greatly enjoyed golfing with his friends on the "Dawn Patrol." He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Anita Anderegg; his children, Michael Anderegg and his wife Cheryl; Margaret Anderegg McNurlan; Barbara Anderegg and her partner, Harry Moen; Virginia Lynn Mueller and her husband Juergen; Robert J. Anderegg and his partner, Jennifer Petersson; David Anderegg and his wife Kelley DeLorenzo; Carl S. Nadler and his wife Judy. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Megan Anderegg Malone (Ian), Katherine Anderegg, Jessica Anderegg Rhoades (Christopher), Jeremy Garlick (Jonida Zeqo), Gemma Garlick (Mike Gerardi), Cotey and Caspar Anderegg, Peter Anderegg (Leslie Frey), and Francesca Anderegg, (Reinaldo Moya), and Benjamin and Lauren Nadler; and his great-grandchildren, Penelope and Vivian Malone, Sophia and Sarina Garlick, and Henrik Rhoades. He is also survived by his devoted caregiver, Rita Cormack. He was predeceased by his brothers John and Harold Anderegg and his sister Rose Marie Nadler, and his son-in-law Malcolm Fuller.



A memorial service will be scheduled later in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to the White Lake (Wisconsin) Area Historical Society in care of the Uecker-Witt Funeral Home, 524 N. Park Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI, 54935. Uecker-Witt Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Additional information and guest book may be found at www.ueckerwitt.com.