Co-Founder and CEO of Wausau Homes Passes Away

Marvin C. Schuette, co-founder and chief executive officer of Wausau Homes, passed away peacefully at his home on Friday morning, September 14, 2007, with his wife Ruth by his side.

Marv was born October 27, 1931, on a dairy farm in Marathon, Wis., joining older siblings Earl, Clifford and Myra (Tootie). After the sudden death of their father, August, in a cheese factory accident, their mother, Elizabeth, was left with the daunting task of being a single parent during the Great Depression. Fortunately for her, Earl and Cliff had ideas of their own. Their milk routes were done by noon, so the boys hauled lumber and pulp for paper companies. They convinced their mother to invest her insurance funds, under tough terms, to start a saw mill. A lumber yard soon followed and it was time for Marv to be the first in his family to earn a college degree. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in Economics, Marv joined his brothers and brother-in-law Jack Peterson in the expanding family business.

Marv's best decision happened in 1957 when he married Wausau High English teacher, Ruth (Rudie) Janick from Crivitz, Wis. They had three children-Tom, Sara and Jay. Rudie was raising kids while Marv was raising sales for a fledging Wausau Homes. By 1972, Wausau Homes was producing 2,000 homes a year with a 2,000 home backlog and the original plant on Cherry Street in Wausau was "maxed out." In 1975 a new state-of-the-art 330,000-square-foot factory opened on 80 acres in Rothschild. The plant was designed to produce 4,000 homes a year. In 1978, Marv bought out his brother's interest in the company.

Marv lived to see the fruits of his labors. His son Tom married Connie Riiser; they have a daughter, Lauren, and live in Wausau. Daughter Sara married Steve Friedle; they have three children, Ellen, Hannah and Nate, and reside in Wheaton, Illinois. Jay married Gretchen Glader; they live in Sugar Grove, Illinois, with their children Ann, Sam and Joe. Marv had the same zeal in teaching life lessons to his grandchildren as to his managers.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Marvin C. Schuette Scholarship Memorial Fund. Please make checks payable to the fund name and send to:

The Community Foundation of North Central WI
500 Third Street, Suite 310
Wausau, WI, 54403

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