Lawrence Francis LoSchiavo

Lawrence F. LoSchiavo, age 80, of Twin Lakes, WI, died Saturday December 26, 2015 at his home.

Lawrence Francis LoSchiavo was born on January 30, 1935 in Chicago, IL, the son of the late Salvatore and Dorothy Teachout LoSchiavo.   He lived in Wauconda, IL before moving to Twin Lakes in 1974.

On September 17, 1981 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Twin Lakes, Lawrence was united in marriage to Mary Jo Dorfler.  He was self-employed, owning LoSchiavo Construction Company in Twin Lakes.

He was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Twin Lakes.  He was an avid Harley rider and was a member of the Kenosha H.O.G. Chapter.  He enjoyed trap shooting and was a Lifetime Member of the American trap Shooting Assoc.  He also enjoyed fishing.

Lawrence is survived by:  His wife-Mary Jo; 8 children-Lawrence S. (Kathleen) LoSchiavo of Pennsylvania, Joseph LoSchiavo of Twin Lakes, WI, Laureen Eigenbauer of Palos Hills, IL, Kathleen Kramer of Florida, Annette (Kevin) Ledbetter of Palos Hills, IL, Collette (Kevin) Ryan of Palos Hills, IL, Jenny Hackbarth of Kenosha, WI and Robert Mionske of Portland, OR; 20 grandchildren; 3 great grandchildren; 1 brother-Salvatore (Nina) LoSchiavo of Lake Linden, MI nd 1 sister-Carol (Art) Timmerman of Island Lake, IL.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00AM Saturday January 9, 2016 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 701 N. Lake Ave., Twin Lakes, WI.  Memorial remembrances may be made to the Aurora At Home Hospice. 103 N. Dodge St. Burlington, WI 53105.  For online guestbook: haaselockwoodfhs.com.  The Haase-Lockwood & Assoc. Funeral Home and Crematory of Twin Lakes is serving the LoSchiavo Family.  

The Following is Larry's Eulogy prepared by his daughter Jenny:

Good morning , My name is Jenny Hackbarth, I am Larry’s daughter,

I am going to share some reasons and memories of how important this man was in my life as well as in all of yours who are here , whether you knew him personally or not he has influenced who I am so his energy is still here in this room through me and in all who knew him

He was my stepfather, but I called him Dad my whole life, He taught me how to ride a bike on gravel, bought me a horse, took me driving on the frozen lake Elizabeth,  to let me feel how a car brakes on ice,  taught me how to ride a Harley, the best way to eat oysters, with a dash of cocktail sauce, lemon juice and salt,( I remember we were at Andres steak house)  shared his love of food with me ,  built me a house with Joseph and  his construction company, showed me how a Papa can spoil his grandkids and showed me what love was.

Dad loved cigarettes and coffee, they were part of his props he used as the man with the answers, He stopped drinking alcohol 42 years ago and was very proud of it!  He was active in AA and was always available to help anyone in there time if need.  He was very proud of his faith in the catholic church.  Joseph has been very active in the church because  of dad’s influence and is in the Knights of Columbus

My dad loved to shock people and make them laugh.  He  called people kiddo or Kid, he’d say

“Hey kiddo whats up”

He loved to throw a line out there to catch someone off guard and get them talking about politics, sex , drugs or religion

He had opinions on everything and was loud and boisterous about it

He wasn’t politically correct on any topic

He loved and adored my mom, he and I have her as our common ground, he always wanted me to make sure I gave her all the attention she deserved

He was so beneficial to  Joseph his whole  life, giving him his time and attention and teaching him construction skills,

His four  daughters from the “city” would come up from time to time and always enjoyed reconnecting with their dad, Laureen and I had our children around the same time so we were able to be at Nana and papa’s house to enjoy family time together

He was the family photographer as you can see from his memory boards we had a well documented life while at Nana’s and papa’s house

He was meticulous at putting the pictures into albums and dating them.

He and Mom loved having big over the top family gatherings, Fathers day and Christmas parties were big events back in the day, we had sit down dinners for 20 or more.

Dad was very proud of my brother Bob for making it to the Olympics in Seoul Korea in 1988, as well as Barcelona Olympics and holding  the best  US cyclist title

He and mom enjoyed having a garden, I got to be there this last spring  and watch the show go down, mom and Joseph were in the garden yelling to dad what the name of the tomato plant was and he would write it down on a diagram,

Dad liked  to keep mom busy with things she loved to do. She updated him on  how many cucumbers the garden produced, she had something over 500. She got into juicing them for herself and dad and giving the rest  away!

Dad and mom did get into some interesting hobbies, they did it up big, fishing was the first hobby I remember up in Blue Lake they would get a cabin and we had a great time up north with Joseph ,grandma Eleanor, Larry jr and his family

He had an ice shack on lake elizabeth, quite elaborately built, it had trimmed windows and the name “the Schack” on it.  I would go in there to warm up when ice skating. He once caught a record breaking 10 lb walleye in that shack that he had mounted in his office.

The lake was a big part of my childhood, I will forever be thankful to my dad for sharing his love of the water with me

They had a group of friends who shot trap with them, they traveled all over the US competing for about ten years.

They then discovered their love of riding motorcycles, Dad taught mom how to ride and they soon both had Harley Davidsons!  You can see dad on his heritage softail here in front of us with the U.S. flag at Sturgis, they did the east coast, Rockies, key west and many day adventures right here in wisconsin.

Dad loved dogs! He raised German shorthair pointers in Wauconda and had his beloved Bonnie and  then came  Janie and Jessie. Then the Bjons entered the scene they  had Daffy, Missy, Bergie and finally Jessie #2. They took in rescue dogs and became dog counsellors, dogs became a big part of their daily lives. Their doggie door has been well used.

Food was an underlying theme in my  dad’s life.  He loved good food and especially desserts!  He hunted, so we had pheasant, venison  and duck growing up. He once shot a10 point buck in our backyard!  He made homemade italian sausage at our house and would make a nesco of spaghetti sauce to go with it.

He was very proud of not owing anyone anything.

He loved to run his world from his heated /air conditioned 4 car garage with a coffee pot and telephone, “it was his office” where he listened and talked to his neighbors, friends and relatives and made them feel like they could solve all the world's problems.

My parents love story spans almost half a century, they were United right here in St. John's church.

Mom said he loved to dance and back in the day they were quite the couple, I imagine dad with his  handsome dark  Italian looks and mom with her white/blonde bouffant hair they  were quite a striking pair

Mom likes to say Dad would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it, he stopped to help people in trouble on the side of the road and anyone in need of help, he had a way about him, that people felt they could trust him and he was honest, he did what he said he was going to do,

He was A generous and loving man who ran a tight ship  and as his grandson Jonathon  says, Papa was the toughest man I ever met!

Dad would always say “be good and if you can’t be good be careful, and if you can't be careful don't name it after me.”

I am thankful for this day to celebrate my dad's life!

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