Vernon W. Menden, HALES CORNERS – Vernon Menden passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 22, 2026, at the age of 94. Vern was a devoted husband to Bernadette “Berni” Meyer Menden for 73 years and a father of seven children. He is survived by his wife Berni, and his seven children Vernon Menden, Linda Parker (David Doughman), Steven Menden (Sandy), David Menden (Diane), Daniel Menden (Lynn), Sharon Lee (John Lee) and John Menden (Tami Zirngibl Wittliff). He is further survived by sixteen grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents George Menden and Irene Koch Menden and his stepmother Meta Andresen Menden. He was also preceded in death by his brothers George and Norman Menden and his sister Audrey Valentine.

Vern had a rough childhood growing up in Kenosha Wisconsin during the depression and his mother dying when he was only eight years old. He succeeded in providing his own children with a better childhood than his own. He was a bright student and held student leadership positions including class president of his ninth-grade class. He enlisted in the U.S. Army before finishing high school at the age of seventeen. He became a paratrooper after basic training and served in both the 11th and 82nd Airborne units reaching the level of Staff Sargent while serving in the Korean War where he made two combat jumps and received several medals including a Purple Heart.

He returned to Kenosha after his honorable discharge from the Army and soon met the love of his life, Berni Meyer. The were married on May 16, 1953, in a ceremony at St. Mary catholic church in Kenosha. They lived for the first several years as a family in Kenosha, then the city of Milwaukee before spending the last 65 years of their lives together at their home in Hales Corners. He instilled a strong work ethic and core values in his children through his own actions and low tolerance for bad behavior. There was a Duty Chart posted with daily and weekly chores that needed to be completed before going out to play on Saturdays. Vern was the ringleader of many family and neighborhood activities including sledding and tobogganing at Whitnall Park and Friday night volleyball games at Hales Corners Park followed by a late-night party at their or a neighbor’s house. He was also known to enjoy occasional visits to Senft’s Tavern when he needed to relax after a hard day’s work. Vern was always looking for the next big adventure and loved riding his bike and organizing annual bike trips with their neighborhood friends or just riding longer trips on his own just for the adventure. Possibly his most enjoyable adventure was working the fishing boat with his son-in-law Tom Parker as they went deep sea fishing out of Alaska. He loved to boast that he was “the oldest long line fisherman in all of Hoonah!”.

Vern also liked to travel as part of his adventures, taking many family summer trips with the entire family of nine packed into a station wagon as they travelled around the country including a three-week trip out west pulling a popup camper. Vern and Berni also made a several weeks long trip to Australia to visit their ‘AFS exchange daughter’, Heather Jamieson and cherished the time they spent with her and her family. He also truly loved spending time sailing whether it was on his own sailboat on Lake Michigan, sailing from Milwaukee through the St. Lawrence Seaway down to the Caribbean or on their many sailing trips to the islands. They took several Caribbean sailing trips over the years with their neighborhood friends and always came back with many more interesting stories to tell. He also often said “Berni, we’re going to sell the house, buy a sailboat and sail around the world”. To his disappointment and mom’s relief, it never happened.

He trained as an architect and draftsman after the war and spent his entire professional career in the building construction industry working mostly as an estimator and drawing plans for residential and commercial buildings. He worked for nearly thirty years for Math Starck and Sons in Hales Corners. He used the skills he learned in the construction industry designing and or building many homes for family and friends. This included building or significantly remodeling houses for all but one of his seven children leading to a Father’s Day Weekend article in the Milwaukee Journal highlighting his ‘gifts’ to his children. He took great pride in quality craftmanship and keeping costs low.

Vern got a lot of joy being a grandfather and great grandfather as he loved to follow his grandchildren’s progress through school, sports and other extracurricular activities. He particularly enjoyed making silly noises and faces while interacting with babies and infants earning himself the beloved title of “Grandpa Goombots”.

He was a unique and memorable character that enjoyed reading, bike riding, travelling, meeting other people, listening to their stories and telling his own stories as well. He will be missed but never forgotten by all that knew him.

Visitation will be held at Hartson Funeral Home in Hales Corners from 1:00-3:00pm with a memorial service starting at 3:00pm.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, you make a donation to the Veterans organization of your choice.