Daniel A. Laufenberg

CROSS PLAINS – Daniel A. Laufenberg, age 67, of Cross Plains, passed away on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at University Hospital. He was born on Dec. 20, 1952, to Allie and Agatha (Statz) Laufenberg. He married Celeste F. Mousseau on Aug. 10, 1973. Our father (aka “Papa” or “Lauf”) left this earthly life to rejoin with our mother. Papa lived his life as we all should, with endless love for his family and friends and never ceasing to explore new places and people. He lived and worked hard with reckless abandon. Papa was treasured by many and will always be missed. Papa grew up on a small family dairy farm in Cross Plains, Wis. He married our mom, Celeste, and eventually took over full-time responsibility of his parents’ farm. Mom and Papa enjoyed 30 amazing years together on the family farm, raising hogs and their own family of children. Typical of farming families of southern Wisconsin, the love and passion Papa had for the farming lifestyle was passed on to Koty, who now runs his own successful dairy farm here in Dane County. Throughout his life, Papa was an active hunter, traveling far and wide to pursue a variety of small and large game animals. His love of running hounds for bear and pursuit of Rocky Mountain elk often took him on long trips to Northern Wisconsin and out to Western states, respectfully. Anyone who knew Papa well also knew autumn was hunting season, so expecting Papa to sit still was a fool’s errand. Not only did Papa’s adventures in hunting scratch his unrelenting itch to explore new places, it also kept our freezer full of nutritious sources of protein to feed his family! Papa’s keen interest in understanding, conserving, and pursuing wild game was passed on to Jared and Koty with Jared ultimately pursuing a career in wildlife conservation working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. A trip to Alaska with mom back in the early 80s spurred a love of sled dogs, which led them to assemble our own family team of husky sled dogs. Many cherished memories were made with family and friends running the huskies along local snowmobile trails. For the record, dog sledding is way better than downhill sledding or snowmobiling! Papa also was a perfectionist construction contractor after he moved on from daily farming. If you live in one of his homes, you know everything is square, clean and well-made. One of us Laufenbergs may have pounded a nail into your house or installed some flooring to provide a home to your family. In addition to his active outdoor lifestyle, he spent 20 years coaching youth girls’ basketball. That passion was imprinted on Jessica, inspiring her to play the sport her entire childhood leading to her pursuit of a college education in exercise physiology and eventual creation of many successful businesses related to being active, healthy and well, over the past 25 years. We cherish that Papa finally was able to realize his dream to travel to Utqiagvik (Barrow) and Kaktovik, Alaska last year to see the Northern Lights and Artic Ocean and to Willow, Alaska to watch the start of the world-famous Iditarod sled dog race. His endless sense of adventure inspired him to take that exploratory voyage completely solo, planning his day-by-day travels on the fly with no set itinerary. We are convinced that on that trip, he was secretly deciding where he wanted to go live. He even slept outside in his tent during the recent polar vortex in Wisconsin as training and also just because he could! Daniel is survived by his three children, Jessica Laufenberg (Peter Oyen), Jared Laufenberg and Koty Laufenberg; and his siblings, Richard Laufenberg (Doris Rotar) and Mary (Steve) Bjorklund. He was preceded in death by his wife, Celeste; his father, Aloysius Laufenberg; his mother, Agatha (Statz) Laufenberg; and his brothers, Dale Laufenberg and Donovan Laufenberg. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be held at ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH. A visitation will be at the church from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, March 13, 2020. Memorials may written out to the Laufenberg family in order to help provide basketball scholarships. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. We love you, Papa. We will always love you. We would say “Rest in Peace,” but we all know you wouldn’t listen. You and Mom can now go off on more crazy adventures together, again. We’ll take it from here. JJ&K Gunderson Cross Plains Funeral & Cremation Care 2421 Church St. (608) 798-3141