1917
Edward
2014
Edward Biedron
September 29, 1917 — December 22, 2014
Edward F. Biedron, 97, passed away at Hospice Home of Hope in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on Dec. 22, 2014. He was born on September 29, 1917 to parents Frank and Catherine Biedron, and grew up in a vibrant Polish-American community in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As a boy, he loved music, playing the trumpet, baritone, and banjo. At the age of 13, his dad arranged violin lessons for $1 an hour. Ed played violin for the rest of his life, earning money for college by playing in taverns, church socials, and weddings. Later in life, his band, the Geriatrics, played songs from the 40s, 50s and 60s at senior citizen centers, nursing and assisted living homes, picnics, and charitable events in and around Ripon, WI. Nothing brought him more joy than playing the violin, except perhaps catching fish in Green Lake, and all his family singing Christmas carols in harmony.
As a young man, Ed majored in economics at Whitewater State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin–Whitewater), and pursued graduate work in accounting at the University of Iowa. When he was a high school teacher at Wrightstown High School in Wisconsin, he courted Helen Biedron, a young beauty he’d met at a church chorale concert.
Shortly after they were married, in 1941 he was inducted into the army. He rose to become a major in the Counter Intelligence Corps and served in France with the 14th Armored Division. While off duty in Wattrelos, France, a Frenchman, overwhelmed with gratitude that the U.S. army had liberated him from a Nazi concentration camp, insisted on giving Ed a violin from his violin shop. It was that violin that Ed played for the next seventy-five years.
After the war, Ed was an accountant in Zanesville, Ohio, at the Line Material Company while he and his wife raised a family. He was also president of the local Toastmasters International club. After a speech about new IBM accounting methods he gave to his parent company, McGraw-Edison, in Milwaukee, he was promoted to Controller of the Speed Queen division in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he worked for the next 29 years.
He and his family thrived in Ripon. Ed was a longtime active member of the Ripon GOP club, Ripon Rotary Club, the Fond du Lac County Republican Party organization, Ripon Memorial Hospital’s governing board, the Milwaukee chapter of Financial Executives International, and the Ripon Community Fund. He was also a strong supporter of Ripon Boy Scout Troop 37.
Survivors include two daughters, Janice (Delos) Lutton of Mequon, Wisconsin, and Diane (Thomas) Cramer of Erin, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Josh Lutton, Lindsay Sterling, and Kate, Jane and Ed Cramer; four great-grandchildren; a nephew, Will Biedron; and four grand- nieces and nephews. Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Catherine Biedron; his wife, Helen Biedron; his son, Robert Biedron; and his brothers, Raymond and Stanley Biedron.
A memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Ripon, 220 Ransom Street, Ripon, Wisconsin, 54971 on Saturday, January 17, 2015. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30a.m with the service following. Reception and lunch will follow the service. Gifts in memory of Ed can be sent to the First Congregational Church of Ripon (mailed to the address above) or the Ripon College Library Fund, P.O. Box 248, Ripon, Wisconsin, 54971.
Please visit www.butzinmarchant.com to send online condolences
As a boy, he loved music, playing the trumpet, baritone, and banjo. At the age of 13, his dad arranged violin lessons for $1 an hour. Ed played violin for the rest of his life, earning money for college by playing in taverns, church socials, and weddings. Later in life, his band, the Geriatrics, played songs from the 40s, 50s and 60s at senior citizen centers, nursing and assisted living homes, picnics, and charitable events in and around Ripon, WI. Nothing brought him more joy than playing the violin, except perhaps catching fish in Green Lake, and all his family singing Christmas carols in harmony.
As a young man, Ed majored in economics at Whitewater State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin–Whitewater), and pursued graduate work in accounting at the University of Iowa. When he was a high school teacher at Wrightstown High School in Wisconsin, he courted Helen Biedron, a young beauty he’d met at a church chorale concert.
Shortly after they were married, in 1941 he was inducted into the army. He rose to become a major in the Counter Intelligence Corps and served in France with the 14th Armored Division. While off duty in Wattrelos, France, a Frenchman, overwhelmed with gratitude that the U.S. army had liberated him from a Nazi concentration camp, insisted on giving Ed a violin from his violin shop. It was that violin that Ed played for the next seventy-five years.
After the war, Ed was an accountant in Zanesville, Ohio, at the Line Material Company while he and his wife raised a family. He was also president of the local Toastmasters International club. After a speech about new IBM accounting methods he gave to his parent company, McGraw-Edison, in Milwaukee, he was promoted to Controller of the Speed Queen division in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he worked for the next 29 years.
He and his family thrived in Ripon. Ed was a longtime active member of the Ripon GOP club, Ripon Rotary Club, the Fond du Lac County Republican Party organization, Ripon Memorial Hospital’s governing board, the Milwaukee chapter of Financial Executives International, and the Ripon Community Fund. He was also a strong supporter of Ripon Boy Scout Troop 37.
Survivors include two daughters, Janice (Delos) Lutton of Mequon, Wisconsin, and Diane (Thomas) Cramer of Erin, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Josh Lutton, Lindsay Sterling, and Kate, Jane and Ed Cramer; four great-grandchildren; a nephew, Will Biedron; and four grand- nieces and nephews. Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Catherine Biedron; his wife, Helen Biedron; his son, Robert Biedron; and his brothers, Raymond and Stanley Biedron.
A memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Ripon, 220 Ransom Street, Ripon, Wisconsin, 54971 on Saturday, January 17, 2015. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30a.m with the service following. Reception and lunch will follow the service. Gifts in memory of Ed can be sent to the First Congregational Church of Ripon (mailed to the address above) or the Ripon College Library Fund, P.O. Box 248, Ripon, Wisconsin, 54971.
Please visit www.butzinmarchant.com to send online condolences
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Edward Biedron, please visit our flower store.
Guestbook
Visits: 14
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors