James (Jim) Henry Blazel

1944-2021

James (Jim) Henry Blazel, 77, of Athens passed away peacefully on Mar. 1, 2021 at Aspirus Care and Rehab in Medford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2 pm on Saturday, Mar. 6 at St. Louis Catholic Church. Visitation will be held from 12:30 pm until the time of service at the church. Interment will follow at Dorchester Memorial Cemetery in Dorchester. Family and friends can watch the service live on the Maurina Schilling Funeral Home Facebook page or after the service anytime on Facebook or the website. We encourage those in attendance to abide by the Covid- 19 guidelines by sanitizing, wearing a mask (if able) and social distancing.

Jim was born on Jan. 19, 1944, in Dorchester to Alvin Sr. (Pete) and Elizabeth (Betty) (Koenig) Blazel. He attended school at St. Louis Catholic School in Dorchester where he loved to play basketball and won awards for his playing skills.

Jim married Kathy Weix and they bought a home in Athens where they lived and raised their children. Jim and Kathy divorced in 1985 and Jim continued to reside at his home in Athens. He worked in various positions throughout the years always lending a hand where it was needed the most. He took much pride in helping his Amish neighbors.

Jim is survived by his four children, Henry Blazel of Abbotsford, Brenda Duvall and Jim Kimball of Medford, Bonnie Cherwinka of Wausau, Rhonda Grambort and her husband, Fred of Merrill. Jim is also survived by his sister, Louise Brill of Colby, Helen (Ronald) Busse of Dorchester, Dennis (Judy) Blazel of Sun Prairie; nine grandchildren, Colton Duvall (Lexy Belter), Nicole (Brandon) Homeyer and family, Jonathon (Megan) Hein and family, Christopher Hein (Erika Goldbach), Derek Hein (Laura Teske) and family, Danielle Hein (Greg Haring) and family, Casey Cherwinka, Justin Schotz, and Miranda Schotz; many nieces and nephews and their families; and a number of faithful, life-long friends.

In addition to his parents, James was predeceased by his brother, Alvin Blazel Jr.; and his nephew, Bruce Blazel whom he was very close to.

Jim loved to give you a ‘hard time’ but loved it even more when you gave it right back. He would “bullshit” with everyone he met. Music was one of his favorite past times as he loved to attend live bands and dance. He was also very proud of his music box collection with over 2000 of them.

The family is being assisted by Maurina-Schilling Funeral Home in Abbotsford.

The family extends their sincerest thanks to the staff at Aspirus Care and Rehab for their loving care during the last two years.

Paid Obituary 101480