BioA: Lato, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. (65th - 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Lato, Sobolewski, Piekarski, Al-Mishwit, Knauff, Ramon, Griese

----Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co, WI) 7/24/2013

Lato, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. (65th - 19 June 2013)

Caroline (Sobolewski) Lato and Joseph J. Lato were married on June 19, 1948, at St. Hedwig’s Catholic Church, Thorp, Wisconsin by the late Father Francis Piekarski. They had five children: Janice Lato (Soud Al-Mishwit), Arden, NC, Gary (Joan) Lato, Waukesha, WI, Diane (Kurt) Knauff, Madison, WI, Greg (Jennifer) Lato, San Ramon, CA, and Kathleen (Ron) Griese, Loveland, CO, who passed away in 2001. They have ten grandchildren. They all spent a long weekend with their parents, including a mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Stratford, followed by a dinner in their honor.

For the first six years, the couple farmed his parents’ homestead in the Thorp, WI area, after which he was a railroad telegraph operator for two years. In 1956, they purchased the McCrory Hardware Store in Stratford, WI. They ran their business, “Stratford Our Own Hardware”, until 1989. During that time they also acquired the Klemme Dental building in Stratford, converting it into a 5-unit apartment building, and were instrumental in developing the South Ridge Drive subdivision in Stratford, which was previously Spindler Fur Farm and Stratford Speedway, both non-operational at the time. After retiring from the hardware store, they built the 38-unit “Stratford Mini Storage.” In earlier years, they enjoyed dancing, bowling, gardening, fishing, hunting and their get-away cottage on the Eau Pleine flowage; now they are totally retired, enjoying their time at their home on South Ridge Drive in Stratford.