Roger K. Jelinek

CREIGHTON — Roger K. Jelinek, 61, of Creighton died Sunday, June 22, 2014, at his home. Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Ludger’s Catholic Church, Creighton, with military rites by VFW Post 1151 and American Legion Post 74, Creighton, and private family inurnment at a later date. The Rev. Jeff Lorig will officiate. Arrangements are by Stonacek Memorial Chapel, Pierce. Roger Kim Jelinek was born May 30, 1953, to Joe and Janis (Lord) Jelinek in Libertyville, Ill. Roger has found peace and was called home on June 22, 2014. He spent his younger days learning tae-kwon-do and mastering the art of terrorizing his older sister. Roger lived in Libertyville until he joined the United States Army and the United States Air Force Reserves in 1970 and spent eight years serving his country diligently and with pride. In 1982, he met his soulmate, Linda Lou Riesing, in Milwaukee, Wis. The pair were a perfect match from the start. They got married the following year and raised three super-awesome kids. He enjoyed chaperoning his daughter’s Girl Scout camping trips, building derby cars for Boy Scouts, coaching his son’s baseball team and watching his youngest daughter play soccer and drown in an overly large pink uniform. He loved his family more than he could articulate at times. Roger spent his working days solving everyone’s heating and air conditioning issues, and he was the very best at his trade. In his “free time,” he acquired eight journeyman certificates in various fields and enjoyed anything that had to do with the computer. From his many years on the job, Roger experienced some difficulty performing every- day tasks and was in great pain for many years. Roger and Linda decided a fresh start and some country air might do the trick and moved to Creighton in August of 2011. He was happy to be back on the farm and enjoyed having the time to tinker around in the shop and spend time with his father. Roger is survived by his father, Joe Jelinek of Creighton; his wife, Linda Jelinek of Creighton; his sisters, Myra (Keith) Daily of Menifee, Calif., and Shala (Steve) Carter of Adams; his son, Roger Jelinek of Milwaukee; his daughters, Amber (Tom) Ostronic and grandson Cooper of Creighton and Brittany Jelinek of Creighton; his nephews, Joseph Carter of Adams and Josh Carter of Adams; his brother-in-law, Leonard (Therese) Schaefer; his nephew, Justin Schaefer of Milwaukee; his nieces, Heather (Russ) Rivard of Milwaukee, Jennifer (Paul) Schaefer of Milwaukee, Laura (Matt) Giebenrath of Greenfield, Wis., Marilyn (Joe) Corragio of Milwaukee; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, colleagues and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Janis Lord, and stepmother Waneen Jelinek.