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James M. Retert October 9, 1945 - January 25, 2020
James M. (Jim) Retert passed away peacefully on January 25, 2020, in the presence of his loving family.
He was the husband of Carole (nee Jorgenson) for 53 years; cherished father of Camilla (Harry) Hardin and Catharine (Andrew) Hausen and grandfather of Jacob Hausen. He was further survived by his sister Judith (Dennis) Behling, nieces, other family and friends.
Jim enjoyed woodworking, fishing, other outdoor activities and working on his home.
Over the years he worked for Harley-Davidson, Allis Chalmers and Waukesha Engine as well as owning his own picture framing business.
Private services were held. http://www.gmtoday.com/obits/freeman/obits/2020/01_Jan/29/James-M-Retert.htm#.XjxZiYr-2SU.email
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Ronald Mouradian
Sad to hear of another classmates passing. We are losing too many so young. Rest in peace Jim.
Paul Chmielewski
Amen Ron. We are indeed losing classmates far too soon. A reminder to us all to never let a day go by without telling family and friends how much we love them.
John Eells
Carole,
I hope you read this on the class web site because I don't know how to get in touch with you. My sympathies to you and your family and I am very saddened by the loss of a good friend from high school. I have fond memories of our small dance band practicing in Jim's basement every Friday night from 1961 to '63. We practiced only for about an hour then cleared a table for sheepshead, smoking and drinking. I learned why it is stupid to smoke, drink and play sheepshead for a nickel a point with card sharks like Jim Horvath ( sorry Jim but you were ruthless. You didn't have to gloat when you won. I thought "schmeer" was when i goofed when painting a house.).
Did Jim ever tell you about playing in the band called The Accents? Ralph Orlik, Bob Morris, Don Reynolds, Bob Guendert, Ron Kiphart , Leroy Cowan , Jerry Kummer, Jim Horvath(sometimes) , Jim, and I wanted to earn a littlle money and some local renown. We had only two or three paid gigs, and an appearance at the school talent show. I don't know if that helped or hurt our reputation, but fame is in the eye of the beholder, and I think we sounded pretty good. Looked good too: we wore snazzy vests sewn by Jim's mother I think (don't quote me).
You may not know this, Jim learned to play drums in order to be part of the band.
May Jim rest in peace and may you live in peace knowing that Jim was loved by so many people.
Prayerfully, John Eells john.c.eells@gmail.com (262)0349-1787