Ronald J. “RJ” Schowalter

Ronald J. “RJ” Schowalter of Port Washington passed away peacefully after a long and rewarding life and professional career on Oct. 17, 2024. He was 98 years old.
Ron was born on Aug. 10, 1926, in an upper apartment on the downtown triangle in Saukville, the son of the late James A. Schowalter and the late Ludmilla “Milla” (nee Weiss) Schowalter.
The family soon after moved to a small family farm just north of town on what then was Highway 57. He grew up during the Depression with his brother Bob and sister Ruth, attending to typical farm chores while helping his parents care for his paternal grandparents Jacob and Barbara Schowalter, all while living together in a modest farmhouse. Many decades later, Ron donated a large portion of that farm to the Village of Saukville to create Schowalter Park, which has been a great source of pride to him and the family.
RJ graduated from Immaculate Conception School in Saukville and liked to point out that chores came first, then the long walk, sometimes over the frozen Milwaukee River, to school in the heart of the village.
Ron was a “Depression kid” and loved to tell the stories of his dad making moonshine on the side during Prohibition while running a building maintenance and home building company, later known as Schowalter & Son. A fond memory, perhaps not at the time, was when federal agents raided the homestead, destroying the production equipment, axing holes in dozens of gallon containers and finally cutting through the support beams of their barn in an effort to render it useless for further wrongdoing. Sundays in the 1930s would see Ron, his sister Ruth and brother Bob dressed up in their best, riding along with his dad and mom delivering their “product” to taverns throughout the county from a storage tank under the back seat of their Buick touring sedan.
Ron attended and graduated from Port Washington High School with the Class of 1944. He noted that the School District had only one school bus that picked up all the kids from the rural areas.
While in high school, Ron met the love of his life, Elizabeth “Bette” Hill, and thus began their journey through life together, dating for seven years and then married for another 75 years, celebrated this past May.
RJ, a member of the Greatest Generation, enlisted right out of high school in the U.S. Army Air Corp., hoping to become a pilot and fight for our country in World War II. Regrettably, a diagnosed heart condition kept him from getting his wings and he was honorably discharged in 1947, after which time he worked in his father’s business while attending classes at Marquette University as well as Spencerian Business College, as he had greater aspirations. Marriage to Bette on May 14, 1949, also brought him a job offer based on his business acumen to join the Hill family business known as Port Washington State Bank (PWSB).
Ron proved himself to be a very capable community banker and rose through the ranks of what was at the time a relatively small operation.
He was extremely active in all types of community activities and especially proud of his influence and participation in the early 1950s in forming the organization now known as the United Way of Northern Ozaukee.
The death of Ron’s father-in-law Don Hill in 1964 created an opportunity for he and Bette to purchase controlling interest and he then became president of the bank, a position he held until 1991, when he retired from active day-to-day duties and assumed chairman roles in the bank and its holding company. Ron served as the holding company’s chairman until his last day and always had a keen interest in how the bank was doing and extreme pride in seeing successive generations of his family take it to rank as one of the top 20% of banks of its size in Wisconsin.
Ron was recently honored for 75 years in the industry by the Wisconsin Bankers Association, the first person ever to achieve this distinction. He was a driving force in guiding the bank through many decades of growth and was very supportive of the civic and charitable contributions in the county the bank is known for.
Ron was a man of many interests and talents who enjoyed golf, woodworking, boating, fishing, traveling and their home on Big Green Lake. Europe, especially Italy and Greece, were favorite destinations with friends as well as nearly annual winter sojourns to the Gulf Coast of Florida. He loved to point out that he was still riding his wave-runner into his early 90s.
A particular achievement he took pride in was his influence in seeing that the City of Port Washington obtained ownership of the marina peninsula in the early 1960s and then being influential at the County Board level to join with the city to see that the Port Washington marina became a reality. RJ kept a cabin cruiser in the marina for several years, and he and Bette enjoyed relaxing on it with a cocktail and a bucket of chicken, and of course fishing with friends and family on Lake Michigan.
Ron was a great cook and known for his love of rare steaks and all the fixings. He used every seasoning known to man and leftovers were always creatively re-imagined. Gardening was a passion; he was meticulous about his yards and red geraniums were his staple every spring. Also special to Ron was his attendance whenever possible at his grandchildren’s various school and sports activities.
Professional memberships and accomplishments were many. He served as Fish Day parade marshal twice, proudly served on the Ozaukee County Board for 30 years, with favorite committee service on the Finance and Parks commissions as well as the Law Enforcement Committee. He was a member of the Port Washington-Saukville Rotary Club for more than 50 years, serving as its president, and was also a proud member of the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Post #82 in Port Washington.
RJ made many friends over his lifetime but particularly enjoyed partaking in the workday morning gatherings of “locals” at Harry’s Restaurant, where all the news of the day was dispensed for further publication. He also had his weekly Friday noon lunch dates for many years with his good friends Jim Koenen, Vernon Biever, Frank Metz and, joining them in later years, Mark “Mopey” Wildhagen. Those lunches always started out with “whose turn is it to buy?”
Ron is survived by his beloved wife Elizabeth “Bette,” sons Steve (Wendy) Schowalter and Mark (Cathy) Schowalter and daughter Sally (Bob) Savatski. He is further survived by his grandchildren Tracy (Justin) Braun, James (Jennifer) Schowalter, Jacob (Miranda) Schowalter, Mikayla (fiance Andrew Porter) Schowalter, Matthew Savatski and Ashley (Max) Sippel and his brother and sister-in-law Dan and Carole (Hill) Priske of Green Lake. Also surviving are great-grandchildren Jack and Steven Schowalter, Cooper, Riley and Adeline Braun, Tyler and Madilyn Savatski and Howard and Molly Sippel.
He was predeceased by his infant son Paul, parents James and Milla Schowalter, sister Ruth (Ken) Mehring, brother Robert (Ruth) Schowalter and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Marvin and Mary (Hill) Nash.
Visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Peter of Alcantara Church, 1800 N. Wisconsin St., Port Washington, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 1 p.m. Father Patrick Wendt will preside over the Mass. The immediate family will gather thereafter for a private luncheon.
He will be laid to rest at St. Mary’s Parish Cemetery in Port Washington.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Port Washington Historical Society, Ozaukee Food Alliance or Food Pantry Inc. of Port Washington. Memorials undesignated or so designated will be used as the nucleus of a scholarship to be created at Port Washington High School in Ron’s memory to aid students pursuing a career in finance.
Eernisse Funeral Home, Port Washington is honored to serve the Schowalter family.
Online condolences may be left at www.eernissefuneralhome.com.
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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.
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