Charles “Chuck” J. Leuck

FENNIMORE - Charles Joseph “Chuck” Leuck passed away on Thursday, July 10, 2025, surrounded by loving family at his home in Fennimore, Wisconsin.  Chuck was born on May 8, 1937 to Alphonse and Eleanor (Hauser) Leuck in Cashton, Wisconsin.  He grew up on the family farm outside of Cashton with his parents, brother and two sisters, where he developed his tremendous work ethic, sense of fairness and strong faith. He was the Wisconsin Badger State Boys representative from Cashton prior to his graduation from Cashton High School in 1955.  After high school, he attended the Wisconsin Institute of Technology, which is now UW-Platteville, for Civil Engineering, where he played college football. Because he loved good food, he had his mom teach him how to cook before he headed off to college, and he was a hands-on cook the rest of his life. In 1974, he became a licensed Professional Civil Engineer in the state of Wisconsin.

While in college, he met Marlene “Molly” Mathison at a wedding dance, whom he married on January 31, 1959.  They had seven children over the next ten years.   When Molly was pregnant with Cheryl, the youngest, his uncle Joe gave him some advice at a family reunion, saying, “You know, Charlie, you can do it just for fun.”

Chuck worked for Davy Engineering out of La Crosse, WI for several years.  He moved the family to several communities through southwestern Wisconsin where he designed and led   numerous infrastructure projects involving water, sewer, storm drain and roadway construction.

In 1968, he accepted the position of Director of Public Works for the City of Fennimore, which he held until his retirement in 2000.  During his time working in Fennimore, Chuck was involved in many state and local organizations.  He was the president of the Western Wisconsin Municipal Power Group for 23 years, was a lifetime member of the American Water Works Association, and was a member of the SWTC Advisory Committee.  Chuck helped implement Fennimore’s recycling program and shared that model with other communities.  He was also part of the Fennimore Economic Development Corporation, the Fennimore Boscobel Community Golf Course Committee, and the Fennimore Area Health Committee.  Chuck was an active member of the Boy Scouts of America, St. Mary’s Church Council, the City of Fennimore Chamber of Commerce, the Jaycees, and the Fennimore City Council.  He was also one of the founding coaches of the Fennimore youth boys football teams for several years.

Family was his life and he was a devoted husband and a loving, hands-on father.  The family spent two weeks every summer at Wood Lake catching their yearly supply of fish.  However, Chuck and his dad never got to fish because they spent the entire time baiting hooks and taking fish off for the seven kids, Molly and his mother.  He taught the kids to water ski at the lake when the water was smooth as glass.  The family also had a few long-distance road trips that could have been the rough drafts to the National Lampoons Family Vacation movies.

Although he spent many evenings attending various meetings, Chuck enjoyed golfing with the men’s league, playing sheepshead and bridge with different card clubs, and attending his kids’ sporting events.  He was an avid woodworker and spent many hours in his and friend Ron Anderson’s wood shops, creating furniture for their and their kids’ homes.  In his retirement years, he loved his daily coffee meetings with the guys and their baseball game outings.

After Molly passed away in 1996, Chuck married Ellen Day on December 29, 2000 and their families blended seamlessly to form a family with 9 kids.  Chuck and Ellen travelled extensively and loved playing cards with family and friends. They enjoyed spending time with their children and grandchildren, especially watching the grandkids play sports. Every year the entire family has some type of reunion, whether it is in Wisconsin Dells, Door County, or in recent years, here in Fennimore.  This blended family has celebrated many happy events such as weddings, anniversaries and births. Chuck and Ellen spent 25 winters in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, which provided a destination escape for the kids and grandkids. Reunions are filled with lots of love, laughter, story-telling and playing games.  His gift to his entire family was passing along the values he cherished the most: honesty, integrity, hard work, and protecting our environment.

Chuck was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Molly, his son Mike (2016), his sister and brother-in-law (Betty and Bob Hervey), Molly’s parents (Hjalmer and Alice (Stenslein) Mathison), Molly’s five siblings and four of their spouses, his wife Ellen’s parents (Willard and Agnes Nysse), one grandchild and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Chuck is survived by his wife Ellen, children Bob (Linda), Susie (Hector) Reyes, Jim, Kathy (Rob) Vincent, daughter-in-law Kelly Leuck, Kevin (Michelle), Cheryl (Earl) Helder, Paula (Daniel) Schmidt, and Adam (Heather) Day. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren (Derek, Jami, Lindsy, Lauren, Connor, Shaun, Alec, Travis, Molly, Parker, Alaina, Justin, Carson, Haylee Jo, Gabriella, Avery, Brody, Braxton, Berklee, 11 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild. He is also survived by his brother Jack (Terry), sister Marlene (Tom) Newburg, sisters-in-law Judy Mathison, Donna (Bob) Danielsen, Sharon Davison, Noreen (Leroy) Young and brother-in-law Jerry (Cathy) Nysse, uncle Bud Hauser, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

In lieu of plants and flowers, a memorial fund will be established in loving memory of Charles Leuck.