Robert Joseph Kawlewski, 72, Hot Springs, Ark., a former Junction City resident and brother of several Portage County residents, died unexpectedly from complications following surgery on Friday, Oct. 8, 2004, in Hot Springs, Ark.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at noon on Saturday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Junction City, with the Rev. John A. Wisneski officiating. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be at Martens/Kundinger Funeral Home in Junction City from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday and at the church from 10 a.m. Saturday until the services. There will be a parish prayer service at 6:45 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Mr. Kawlewski was born Aug. 23, 1932, in Dancy, a son of the late Joseph and Frances (Kieliszewski) Kawlewski. He attended White Lilly School, a one-room school house. After graduating from the eighth grade, he went to work on the family farm.

At the age of 21, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served four years.

He was married to Rosemarie Mallek, on Aug. 23, 1958, in Junction City.

They moved to Milwaukee and he worked as a tool and die maker.

They moved to the suburbs in 1964 and he began working as a heavy equipment operator for the Milwaukee County Highway Department. After 25 years with the Highway Department, he retired at age 58.

They then moved to Lake Catherine in Hot Springs, Ark.

Survivors include his wife; one daughter, Rachelle (Frank) Alioto, Milwaukee; one son, Randall, Ladysmith; three brothers, Edward (Dolores), Almond, Sylvester (Pat), Plover, and Edwin, Junction City; four sisters, Laura Bialas, Christine (Frank) Garski and Eleanor (Edward) Grywacz, all of Plover, and Alvinia (Albert) King, Rudolph; and two grandchildren.