January 4, 2021 – West Bend, WI – Dewayne H. Stiefvater, 83, of West Bend passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 3, 2021 at his residence.
He was born October 2, 1937 in Greenwood, WI to Edward and Dorothy (nee Feterl) Stiefvater. On June 7, 1958 he was united in marriage to Phyllis Krause at Holy Angels Catholic Church in West Bend.
Dewayne served in the U.S. Army in the early 1960’s. Following his discharge, he worked as a freight car repairman for Chicago Northwestern and Union Pacific for 43 years, retiring in 1998.
Dewayne was Choo-Choo the Clown for over 15 years and taught a Clowning class at Waukesha County Technical College. He was a member of C.L.O.W.N.S. which stands for Clown’s Limited of Waukesha Non-sense Specialists. Dewayne also played Santa Claus for over 20 years. He was also a member of Holy Angels Church, the Lt. Ray Dickop Post 36 American Legion and the St. Mary’s Young at Heart Club. He was a Past President of the Ushers Society of St. Agnes in Butler and was named the Butler Citizen of the Year in 1990. For many years he was the concessionaire of the West Bend Company Land O’ Lakes Baseball team.
Dewayne is survived by his wife of 62 years, Phyllis, 3 siblings: Charles (Edie) Stiefvater of Burnsville, NC, Jerome (Roxie) Stiefvater of Slinger and Karen (Roger) Gierach of Port Washington and nieces, nephews, other relatives and many close friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents Edward and Dorothy Stiefvater, and 2 sisters: Bernadette Stiefvater and Sharon (Eugene) Mueller.
Private funeral services will be held with burial in Pilgrim’s Rest Cemetery.
The Schmidt Funeral Home in West Bend is serving the family.
