Pleasant Prairie couple who perished in crash remembered (2024)

Local leaders remember Wayne and Patricia Koessl of Pleasant Prairie, a husband and wife duo who gave decades of service to their community, fondly after the couple died Aug. 12 from injuries relating to a car crash.

Wayne, 95, and Patricia, 92, had been married for 74 years. According to their obituary, they are survived by their three sons, Jeffrey, Roger and Thomas Koessl, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Both graduated from Bradford High School, and Patricia graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Wayne served in the Navy during the Korean War.

Patricia served for 21 years as the Pleasant Prairie Treasurer. Wayne was serving on the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission. He’d previously served on the Kenosha County Board, as the president of the Wisconsin Counties Association, chairman of the Board for the Wisconsin Retirement System and on the boards of the Shalom Center and the United Way of Kenosha.

Wayne worked for We Energies for 64 years, initially starting as a tree trimmer and climbing his way up the jobs ladder.

Pleasant Prairie Village Trustee Michael Pollocoff talked of Wayne’s involvement in critical steps in the village’s journey. Koessl was key to bringing the We Energies power plant to Pleasant Prairie, getting the town incorporated as a village and getting Highway 165 built, Pollocoff said.

“He took the future of the village, from a development standpoint, very seriously,” Pollocoff said.

Patricia “took her job seriously” in a time before the village had computers for treasury work.

“There wasn’t a computer to be found, there were calculators and paper ledgers,” Pollocoff said.

Pollocoff praised the couple for their extensive involvement in the community over many decades, all while raising a family and “keeping the grass mowed.”

“He was a Pleasant Prairie man,” Pollocoff said. “Pat was as nice a person you’d ever meet, she really took her job as village treasurer seriously,”

Former County Executive Jim Kreuser had known the couple since he was a teenager. During his own political career, Wayne Koessl was there, Kreuser said.

“He was a valued mentor from when I was in state government all the way through my legislative and county executive terms,” Kreuser said.

When former County Executive John Collins was elected as county clerk in 1978, Wayne was already County Board chairman. They served for many years together in the county and would work together years later on the Shalom Center Board.

“A lot of people, when they turn 62 or 65, they retire and go fishing,” Collins said. “But they seemed to double down on their connections to the community. There are few people that you run into that are still doing that sort of stuff long after they’ve retired.”

While Wayne and Patricia Koessl were in their 90s, both were in relatively good health. The suddenness of their deaths took many of those who knew them by surprise.

“It was distressing,” Pollocoff said. “You hate to lose somebody who helps a growing community by providing some continuity … It’s not common to see people involved at the point they were.”

For Kreuser, losing his longtime friend and mentor was especially difficult.

“I’m still getting my head around it,” Kreuser said. “It’s tough to see that generation leave that have given so much.”

He hoped their deaths might be a “call to arms” for other residents “sitting on the sidelines to step up and add value, give back to their community like the Koessls.”

Collins said the news was “shocking” for him, after 50 years of knowing the couple.

“It’s not necessarily a shock when somebody in their 90s passes away, but they had been both active and vibrant and engaged in their community service up to that point,” Collins said. “The way this happened was shocking.”

Both had “exemplary lives of service,” Collins said. Few people could boast such commitment as public officials or such a long list of contributions “out of the goodness of their heart.”

“They gave of themselves to the community, that’s something that needs to be acknowledged and praised,” Collins said.

Current Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman praised Wayne’s legacy.

“Wayne was a tremendous advocate for Kenosha County through his many years of service on the County Board and with We Energies, and through his volunteer work. He was truly one of those people who made a difference in the community, and he will be missed,” Kerkman said.

Wayne loved the work, Pollocoff said, and both Koessls took their citizenship of the village seriously.

“They don’t them like that anymore,” Pollocoff said. “It’s a rarity. And they were good at it.”