Harry Wagenaar
Obituary's Biography:
Harry “Mike” Wagenaar, age 77, of Grayslake, Illinois passed away peacefully on February 14, 2022 after an 11 year battle with prostate cancer.
Born in Chicago, Illinois on July 25, 1944, Harry was the oldest of 5 children born to Harry and Joan Wagenaar. Harry was the dearly loved husband of Dorothy (nee Pisha) for 54 years and devoted father of Michael (Tanya), Susan (Mark) Remshak, Melissa (Bob), Rebecca (Timothy) Miller, and Andrea (Christopher) Mullin, and extremely proud grandfather of Alyssa, Lexi, Natalie, Nicole, Ele, Izzy, Maggie, Delaney and William. He is survived by his sister Joanna and brothers Bob and Tom. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother John.
Harry was passionate about his family, golf, travel, Chicago sports, Christmas, and dad/grandpa jokes. Dedicated to his family, Harry was the biggest (ok the loudest) cheerleader at his children’s swim meets all the way from age-group swimming through collegiate swimming. He was a constant at both meets and practices. He was the ultimate swim parent – diving right in (pun intended) to help with anything at meets including the timing system, lane ropes, bullpen, or flags. Harry was also a constant fixture at the annual Olsen Middle School camping trip to Devil’s Lake. He even managed to help in years when his own kids weren’t camping and always came back with stories of crazy adventures.
Although Harry enjoyed most Chicago sports, he was a die-hard Chicago Bears and Chicago White Sox fan. He proudly sported both teams’ jerseys, even at the beach or in the pool. He enjoyed a good deal of ribbing with his sons-in-law when the Bears beat the Packers (Mark) or the White Sox crushed the Cubs (Tim).
Harry and Dorothy enjoyed travel and the open road. If they weren’t driving cross country to visit one of their children, they would explore the midwest with Sunday drives and excursions to a great number of local lighthouses. They were able to see so many interesting places from California to New England, always returning home with a story to tell and pictures to share. Shortly after retiring, Harry planned a road trip along Route 66 to the Grand Canyon – preferring travel on the smaller side roads to the newer interstate highways. Even though the cancer was significantly progressing and slowing him down, Harry carried on and was able to complete one more item on his bucket list this past September with a trip to the Field of Dreams in Iowa.
In retirement, Harry was finally also able to embrace his love of golf – both playing and watching. In his last year, he endeavored to continue with his golf league to the end, missing only when his cancer treatments wouldn’t allow.
Harry will also be remembered, loved and honored for just being himself. He had a proclivity for breakfast meat (really all meat) and could whip up a mean platter of sausage balls for any New Year’s celebration. When Harry was in charge of dinner for the kids back in the 70s and 80s, you knew it would be a hunk of meat – fruits and vegetables were not on his menu. He passed this fondness for meat down to his granddaughter Izzy. Harry also couldn’t resist jokes and puns – especially classic “dad” or even worse “grandpa” jokes. An appreciation which his granddaughter Ele and grandson William seem to have inherited. William spent many video chats swapping jokes with grandpa Harry and lots of giggles were had. Harry also enjoyed playing cribbage with his sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, and grandkids.
Christmas was Harry’s favorite holiday. His love for the holiday was contagious and future Christmas celebrations will be filled with warm memories of him. You can’t see a Christmas village display and not think of Harry. His Facebook posts of his village started months before Christmas and would even be re-shared for Christmas in July. His Christmas village originally started as a gift for Dorothy but quickly became his obsession. He delighted in showing it to his grandchildren each year. This year when he was no longer able to put it up himself, he directed the placement of every item in the village. In addition to his village, Harry loved to go on driving tours to see the local Christmas light displays while listening to classic Christmas songs. We were blessed to be able to celebrate one last Christmas together with him and the entire family in 2021.
A Memorial Service for relatives and friends will be held in the summer of 2022 at Strang Funeral Chapel (Grayslake, IL). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Harry’s memory to the American Cancer Society.