Frank Schwarzmann Obituary
Frank was born in Trailsdorf, a small town in northern Bavaria, Germany on May 25, 1935. Frank was the third child in a family of four boys. Hans and Konrad were older brothers and George was the younger sibling. Frank was a good student and rode his bike to a college-prep school in Bamberg, seven miles away. He excelled in English and even worked as a translator in Nuremburg before he emigrated to the United States in March of 1956 at the age of 20. When Frank first came to the USA, he stayed with his two uncles in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan before setting out for greener pastures in Milwaukee. There he met and fell in love with Eva Schimpf and was married on May 3rd, 1958. Not long after, Frank was drafted by the United States army and was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri for a two-year stint. His first child, Michael was born there in 1959. Two more children followed, John in 1961 and Lisa in 1963. After his service, the family came back to Milwaukee where Frank studied engineering and then worked for most of his career as a bio-medical engineer for Cardiovascular Surgery Associates. Frank was particularly good at setting up and operating heart-lung machines and took part in many successful heart surgeries, Frank was very inventive and had several patents in the medical field. Even late into his life he was working on new inventions and also loved to work with wood in his cozy shop. Having grown up on a farm in Germany, the self sufficiency ethic continued on his 5-acre home site in Colgate, Wisconsin where the family home was built in 1968. In 1975, the Schwarzmann family started a small apple orchard that had fabulous golden delicious apples and also raised chickens, ducks and geese. Frank loved to travel with his wife to Europe and out west to the Rockies and Alaska. He loved nature and was very fond of the Lake Superior area and Porcupine Mountains of Upper Michigan. Frank and Eve had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the German-American community and were long time members of the Schwabenhof in Menomonee Falls. Both Frank and Eve especially loved to sing in choruses associated with the German-American community. Frank sang baritone in the Liederkranz and Liedertafel while Eve sang in the Damenchor. Frank had the quiet confidence to let his actions speak for themselves and show his love for his three children and grandchildren, Shelly and Crystal, Michael's daughters and Sam, Lisa's son. He built a beautiful playhouse for Shelly and Crystal that still stands to this day and he was no happier than when he could be with Sam. In later years, that love continued to his five great grandchildren, Riley, Lily and Levi, Shelly's children and Makai and Alana, Crystal's children. Frank is survived by his wife Eve, son Michael (Sharon) - Lake Villa, Ill., son John, - Minocqua, Wi, daughter Lisa Fitzwilliams - Carbondale, Co. grandchildren – Shelly Smekens (Max King) - Lake Villa, Ill., Crystal Brown & (Jason) - Waianae, Ha., Sam Fitzwilliams, - Lone Tree Co., brother George in Trailsdorf, great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed.
Funeral services for Frank Schwarzmann will be held Sunday December 29th at the Schmidt & Bartelt Funeral Home N84 W17937 Menomonee Ave. Menomonee Falls. The visitation will begin at 11:00 am until the time of funeral services at 12:30.
