Lou passed away on 3/6/2026 at the age of 91.

He is survived by his daughters, Mary Beth (Greg) Bissonnette of Merrill, WI, Cheryl (Jerry) Hart of Merrill, WI and Katherine (Tom) Juranitch of Conover, WI. Also survived by his grandchildren, Kate (Scott) Conley, Lynn (Chris) Kroening, Bryan (Tracie) Bissonnette, Matthew (Stephanie) Juranitch and William Juranitch along with seven great-grandchildren, Kaylee, Madison, Joshua, Gracie, Jackson, Charles and Emily. Lou is also survived by his sister-in-law, Ardeth Heard and many other relatives.

Preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Julia, his brother Richard Heard and grandson Jacob Hart.

Lou spent three years serving our country, first at a Nike site in Detroit and then on the island of Guam where he became the athletic director and editor of the battalion newspaper. Through sports he made three trips to Japan to partake in tournaments for softball, bowling and volleyball. In October 2019 he took a three-day Honor Flight to Washington DC with his son-in-law Greg.

Lou started a long career with the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier in Milwaukee, he then transferred to Van Nuys, California (now Simi Valley) and finally moved back to Milwaukee. He was promoted in 1974 and his career covered Manager of eight different Milwaukee stations, Acting Postmaster of Oak Creek and three years as a Master Instructor at the prestigious Postal Academy in Los Angeles and Washington DC. He retired with thirty-six years of service on October 2, 1992. In the last class he taught at the Postal Academy he had the Assistant Postmaster General of Egypt as one of his students.

Lou always worked part-time in many jobs, the most notable was a Fuller Brush Salesman in Santa Susana, California, where he was the top part-time salesman in the entire United States. He often had more sales than some full-time salesmen and was honored by the company owner “Dad Fuller.” He also worked for nine years at A-to-Z Realty and was very successful. In his retirement, he spent eighteen years driving for Enterprise Car Rental and logged over a million miles with the company.

Julia and Lou loved to travel and took a major trip just about every year which included four driving trips to Alaska. They slept overnight in every state and nine Canadian Provinces, a total of 564 different locations. Lou loved dealing with numbers and statistics. He kept records on many things. He wrote his own autobiography and kept a daily journal since 1972.

Between travel and his love of sports, Lou enjoyed “away” games for the Packers, Badgers and Brewers. Lou was always interested in playing sports, especially his days in the municipal and county leagues and the over 55 leagues. He performed as a player, manager and umpire in softball and volleyball, and umpired in the State of Wisconsin Olympics (55 or over).

Lou always enjoyed playing cards, even at 91, and was a member of a number of card clubs over the years. He was also very involved in local issues for the Village of Hales Corners. He served on the police and fire commission for eight years and the election commission for fourteen years. Lou also served on the village ethics committee and was a member of the Hales Corners Lion’s Club. He was the top field manager for the 2000 census for Milwaukee County and helped other areas to reach their goals.

Funeral services will be held at Hartson Funeral Home in Hales Corners on March 20th. Visitation will be from 1pm to 3pm, with a service to follow.

The family would like to thank the wonderful, caring and dedicated staff at Brookdale Memory Care and St. Croix Hospice.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Lion’s Club Hales Corners Chapter or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.