Joel Gottschalk

Joel Mathew Gottschalk, age 46, died on Monday, December 24th at UW Hospital from chronic illness. Joel was born in Marshfield, WI on May 21, 1971. His family home was in the country near the Little Eau Pleine River in Marshfield where he spent hours exploring the river banks and woods; and sometimes getting into mischief with his friends. Joel started going to Packer games with his dad at a young age and quickly became a lifelong Packer and sports fan. He also had a very close group of friends from high school whom he continued to love and admire to the end.

Joel was a renaissance man - an avid outdoorsman, a gourmet cook, biologist, teacher and lover of music (especially the Grateful Dead), movies and books. He also had a quick, sarcastic sense of humor which kept his family and friends entertained. Like his parents, Joyce and Paul, he had a thirst for knowledge and was always open to learning new ideas and skills. Joel could make friends easily, whether it was fellow dog owner at the dog park, a homeless person, or the staff in his favorite ethnic grocery store.

After graduating from Marshfield Senior High School in 1990, Joel attended UW-Madison for a while and eventually moved to Chicago where he attended the Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School and graduated cum laude in 1995. His true passion was cooking and he was an excellent chef and especially loved cooking ethnic foods. He was happiest when he was generously sharing his culinary talents with co-workers, friends and family throughout his life.

In 2000, Joel followed his love of the outdoors and moved to Anchorage, Alaska. His first job in Alaska was cooking at the school on the Elmdorf Military Base in Anchroage. He then started attending the University of Alaska he graduated with a MS in Biology in 2011 and published his thesis on the "Development and Evaluation of a Diotom-Based Biological Monitoring Index for Streams in Cook Inlet Basin, Alaska." Joel was in his element when he was doing research studies out in the wilds of Alaska. He loved the state's rugged beauty and often said that he was very fortunate to work in a job that allowed him to spend time in some of the most beautiful locations in the world, often untouched by humans.

In 2014, he moved to the Madison-area to be closer to his family. He sometimes had a large garden and would generously share the fruits of his labor in the form of zucchini bread, marinara sauce and his award-winning salsa. He also had the opportunity to teach science and culinary arts to 8th and 9th graders at Sun Prairie Middle School. He truly cared about his students and tried to create a welcoming and fun learning environment. His classroom walls were decorated with his mom's beautiful paintings and fun objects that his students found intriguing.

Joel had many health challenges over the past five years but rarely complained. He was dearly loved and will be truly missed.

He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Hester and Paul G. Gottschalk Sr. of Taylorville, IL and Mildred and Ernest Hidde from Octonto, WI. Joel is survived by his parents, Joyce and Paul G. Gottschalk Jr., of Waunakee; his sister, Lee Ellen Gottschalk-Sellers; his brother, Paul G. Gottschalk III; and his nieces, Gracie Sellers, Elizabeth Miller, Arianna Gottschalk and his nephew, Ian Gottschalk; brother-in-law, Tony Sellers; sister-in-law, Katherine Gottschalk; great nieces Nova and Miranda Miller; great nephew, Troilus Miller; and his beloved dog, Allie.

A small service for immediate family will be held at a future date.

Winn-Cress Funeral Home
5785 Hwy Q, Waunakee, WI