Thomas Miles Eiring, 67, died Wednesday, September 7, 2016 following a brief illness.
He leaves his wife of 18 years, Bonita (Wildes) Eiring; his son, Chadwick Eiring (Beth) of Texas; his daughter, Ellyssa Eiring (Abraham) of Madison; Derek Strande (Tiffany) of Neenah; Sabrina (Jason) of Eden: siblings Sue (Tom) Ricklefs of Wausau, John (Deb) Eiring of South Dakota; Carol (Bill) Haase of Missouri; Gene Eiring of South Dakota; Jim (Cynthia) Eiring of Georgia; Jay (Leslie) of Illinois. Grandchildren: Brittany (Tim) Geiger, Karissa (Dan) Schwantes, Zintkala Eiring, Shane Eiring, Raven Eiring, Haili Kutz, Hunter Kutz, Allie Strande, Isabella Strande, and Gretchen Strande. Great Granddaughter, Brooklyn Schwantes.
He is preceded in death by his father, Irwin Eiring, mother, Frances Clare Eiring, brother William (Bill) Eiring, son, Troy Eiring and granddaughter, Shayla Eiring
Born in Fond du Lac and raised in St. Cloud, Wisconsin, the son of Irwin and Francis Clare Eiring (Phalen), he was a long time resident of Campbellsport.
After graduating from New Holstein High School in 1967, he attended University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Anthropology. In his early years, Tom worked for Tecumseh Engines. He met his wife, Bonita Eiring, while employed at the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac and they were married in 1998. After leaving UW Fond du Lac, Tom advanced through his profession while working at the Internal Revenue Building, Mendota Health, and retired from the Waupun Correction Central Heating Plant in January, 2010.
In 1968, he joined the U.S. Air Force, where he worked in munitions as a weapons loader, serving in Colorado, Florida and North Carolina and achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. Tom had the opportunity to deploy serving his country with a one-year assignment at Ubon AB, Thailand during the Vietnam War.
Tom’s first passion was his family. His life was comprised of making memories with his wife, children and family friends, often times, chatting for hours on the deck. Tom also had a passion for the outdoors and most days you could find him working on the property with his Kioti tractor, making firewood, capturing chipmunks, tinkering in the garage, or continuing improvements on their woodland retreat property. Together, Tom and Bonita enjoyed traveling around the United States, Mexico, Germany and Australia visiting old friends and meeting new ones. Packer games, NASCAR and Indy races were his weekend relaxation activities.
It was Tom’s wish to forgo traditional funeral services. Therefore, a memorial is planned for summer of 2017.
In lieu of flowers and memorials, contributions may be sent to one of the following.
Wisconsin Public Radio
Membership Services
Tom Eiring Memorial
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
Bureau of Parks & Recreation (Wisconsin State Parks)|
Attention: Lisa Pastula
Tom Eiring Memorial
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America
Tom Eiring Memorial
322 Eighth Ave., 7th Fl.
New York, NY 10001.