From The Daily Reporter
Posted November 13, 2008

Edward Wenzler, president of William Wenzler and Associates-Architects Inc., died Saturday.

His son, Christopher Edward Wenzler, will take over as president of the Milwaukee-based firm after working side-by-side with his father since 2006. Christopher Wenzler said his father never let a bad day get him down and was the strongest man he knew.

“It didn’t matter if he had the most horrible day yesterday,” he said, “he’d come in with a smile and a cup of coffee.”

Edward Wenzler, 54, died after suffering a heart attack. A coroner discovered three blocked arteries in his heart. “He loved us all very much, and we
loved him the same,” Christopher Wenzler said. “None of us have any regrets.”

Both Christopher Wenzler and Dave G. Voss Jr., president of Neenah-based Miron Construction Co. Inc. and Edward Wenzler’s friend, said he was the picture of health, and they were surprised by his death.

But Edward Wenzler was a man of faith, and Voss said perhaps he was needed elsewhere. “There must’ve been a big construction problem up in Heaven,” Voss said.

Christopher Wenzler said his father’s approach as a boss was to be a humble servant to employees and clients. If somebody approached him with complaints, he would listen quietly, go home and pray about it. Usually, he would come in the next day, say he had failed the client or co-worker and begin looking for solutions, Christopher Wenzler said.

Voss said the best lesson Wisconsin’s construction industry can learn from Edward Wenzler was through his approach to working with contractors. Voss, who hired Wenzler’s firm to design Voss’ home and Miron’s headquarters, said Edward Wenzler would call on colleagues to ask their opinions about best construction methods or materials to use in his designs.

“He was very, very emphatic that all of his architects call contractors to ask for their opinions,” Voss said. “There was never in Ed’s mind that, ‘I am any better or know any more than a contractor.’”

Edward Wenzler is survived by his wife, Georgine; sons, Christopher and Michael; father and mother William and Dolores; sisters, Deborah Wenzler Farris and Joan Wenzler Slocum; and brother, John Wenzler.