Obituary for Robert J. "Bob" Achterkirch

He was born January 9, 1942, to William and Mary (Leibl) Achterkirch. Bob grew up in McKinley Valley, rural West Salem. The family later moved to a farm outside of Holmen. He graduated from Holmen High School in 1960 and married Linda K. Paisley on May 1, 1971, and made their home in Mindoro.

Bob worked the family farm until the time of his marriage. He then hauled milk for the Mindoro Creamery (We always would wait for him to bring home fresh squeaky cheese curds). He then worked for the Town of Farmington and finally worked 20 years for the La Crosse County Highway Department as a patrolman until his retirement in 2008. A few years later, he became his wife’s caretaker and stood beside her through her 9-year dialysis journey until her death on June 1, 2023. He was featured on a special interest story on News Channel 8 for making croqueted sleeves for dialysis patients in 2021. The sleeves would keep the patient’s arm warm while at treatment. He made well over 400 of the sleeves that would be sent throughout the Mayo Clinic System - not just locally but in Minnesota, Iowa, and Arizona.

He would help anyone needing help whether it being farmers with chores when there was a health crisis, death in the family, or a family vacation to assist the fire department by loading tanker trucks for barn fires.

He was very proud of his granddaughters and would rarely miss any of their events, such as singing at school or church or their volleyball and softball games.

He is survived by his daughter, Amy (David) Tauscher of West Salem; twin granddaughters, Kelly (Pastor Keith) Brassow of Kent, Washington, and Katie (Jace Fellers) Tauscher of La Crescent. He is further survived by his brothers, William (Mary Ann Hadl) Achterkirch and Archie (Priscilla) Achterkirch both of Holmen; a sister, Charlotte Vitale of Arkdale; and brother-in-law, Art Blaschke of Aurora, Illinois; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Linda; his parents; in-laws, Bunson “Kelly” and Alinda Paisley; his sisters, Lorraine (Richard) Langlois, Shirley Blaschke, and Betty (Bruce) Tasker; brother-in-law, Anthony Vitale; and sister-in-law, Linda M. Achterkirch.

The family would like to thank the staff of the Mayo Clinic - La Crosse Cancer Center, especially, Kim (who was with us for his 2 cancer battles), Drs. Jones and Conway, Onalaska, and La Crosse clinic greeters, Cindy, Bob, and Helen.

Services will be Saturday, August 30, 2025 at 11am at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Barre Mills. A visitation will be held from 9 am until the time of the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given St. John’s Lutheran Church or the Farmington First Responders.

Online condolences may be offered at this website.