Roger A. Platzek, 69, died peacefully on November 8, 2017 at The Villages Hospice House in The Villages, Florida after a short but brave battle with cancer.
Born on June 5, 1948, Roger was raised in Athens, Wisconsin by parents Myrtle (Ramm) and George Platzek. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration accounting degree from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire in 1970 and served with the US Army from 1970 -1973 stationed for part of that time in Thailand. He became a Certified Public Accountant and earned a place at a big-eight accounting firm (Arthur Young & Company) where he met and began a friendship with Zona Skinner (Dudley). They played golf in the morning before work and enjoyed movies together on the weekends. Finally, when Roger offered to pay for a movie, Zona happily figured out they were officially dating. They married in March of 1987.
Together they founded and grew a small company called Puppets “n” Stuff traveling to trade shows and enjoying their time together building a common dream. As an avid woodworker and tinkerer, Roger could fix anything and enjoyed working around the house, remodeling their kitchen, and restoring his 1983 Chevy pick-up truck that quickly became the envy of the neighborhood. In the mid 1990’s he took his “fix it” attitude and turned it inward achieving and maintaining sobriety for close to two decades and helping others through A.A.
In more recent years, he gave countless hours to the Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) of Waukesha maintaining their accounting and welcoming a constant parade of rescue dogs that Zona and he rehabilitated and help to find loving forever homes.
He was most comfortable on a golf course, in a woodshop, or traveling with friends. He and Zona enjoyed many epic trips including a tour through the Panama Canal, a European river cruise, several islands of Hawaii, and countless golf trips. He had measureless energy for Zona’s ideas including moving to The Villages in Florida where they recently purchased a home.
He will be remembered for his sense of humor, his frugal and no-nonsense approach to life, and his talent for polishing off copious amounts of potato chips and carrot cake. His wry smile will be missed by so many.
Roger is survived by his wife, Zona; stepdaughters, Teresa Prichard (husband John) and Kimberly Hazen (partner Patrick Walters); four grandchildren, Ashley Kensley (husband Nathan), Max Prichard (wife Denise), Zoe Hazen, and Ada Hazen; a great granddaughter, Tulla May Prichard; sister Jan Hahn (husband Dave); brother Richard Platzek (wife Pat); nieces, Elisa Boe (husband Heath and children Elijah, Ethan and Ada), and Melanie Olsen (husband Dave and children Lola and Will), Laura Trudeau (husband Chris and daughter Amanda); and nephews, Lowell (children Dane, Kyra, Brett, and Tyler), Russell, and Doug.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha (Hawspets.org) or The Village Hospice House (Cornerstonehospice.org).
