Gary Schoenike

McFarland- Gary Harold Schoenike, age 66, died Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at Agrace HospiceCare Inc. He was born in Watertown on April 11, 1952, the eldest son of Harold and Dolores Schoenike. Gary grew up in Oconomowoc. He met the love of his life, Cindy, while they were in college at UW-Milwaukee. They married on July 22, 1972 and made their home in McFarland from that point forward. Softball was an important part of Gary's life. For more than 30 years, he volunteered or was on staff as a coach for McFarland High School and McFarland Youth Softball, retiring in 2017. Gary had a passion for mentoring young players and helping them find the best in themselves both on and off the field. He also played the game his whole adult life in the greater Madison area men's leagues. Gary was a member of the McFarland Parks Committee and McFarland Softball Commission and played a key role in the development of the diamonds at Brandt Park and swung many a hammer constructing softball dugouts at several McFarland High School diamonds over the years. In addition to softball, Gary enjoyed supporting all Wisconsin sports teams, golfing with his wife, having the occasional brandy and coke, and remembering every statistic of his daughter's softball career. During his career, Gary worked for International Harvester, Oscar Mayer, Pepsi, Kraft, and Rouse Management (the best bosses he ever had), retiring completely in 2017. Gary is survived by his wife of 46 years, Cynthia (nee Allwardt) of McFarland; daughter, Jill (Shane) Martin of Waukesha; mother, Dolores (nee Radtke) Crawley of West Bend; brothers, Scott (Linda) Schoenike of Gillette, WY and Thomas (Shelly) Crawley of Black River Falls; sisters, Roseann Crawley of Jackson and Sandra (Curt) Schmidt of North Carolina; his mother-in-law, Janet Allwardt; and brother-in-law, Eric Allwardt (Barb Estervig); along with his faithful Irish Setter, Flynn. He is further survived by many cousins, nieces, nephews, and life long friends and teammates. Gary was preceded in death by his father, Harold; father-in-law, Lawrence Allwardt; and brother-in-law, David Allwardt. A memorial gathering will be held from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at Cress Funeral Home in McFarland. Memorials in Gary's honor may be made to ALS Association Wisconsin Chapter www.alsawi.org/donate . Please share your memories of Gary by posting Tributes.
Cress Funeral Services
5801 Highway 51
McFarland, WI 53558
(608) 838-0655