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Peter Curt Haensel of Levering, Michigan, age 92, died on October 9, 2024 in Charlottesville, Virginia surrounded by his family.
Born on November 12, 1931 to Curt and Alma (nee Schlesinger) Haensel in Berlin, Germany, Peter fled the country with his mother at the age of five, settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Soon thereafter, his father was able to escape to join them.
Peter was a proud graduate of Riverside High School, Brown University, and the University of Wisconsin Law School. In Madison, he met the love of his life, Kathrine (Katie) Caldwell, whom he married in Dunkirk, Indiana in 1957, shortly after graduating law school. Peter and Katie went on to have three boys: Curt, Doug, and Jack, whom they raised in Shorewood, Wisconsin. They were married for 54 years before she passed away in 2012.
After graduating law school, Peter joined the U.S. Army JAG Corps, serving at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, representing deserters and young soldiers who had gotten into trouble. After his time in the Army, he returned to Milwaukee and joined the law firm of Affeldt & Lichtsinn, later to be renamed Lichtsinn & Haensel, S.C., where he practiced banking, estate planning, and foundation law alongside lifelong friends and partners. In retirement, Peter and Katie moved to Douglas Lake, Michigan where he took pleasure reading books on the pontoon boat, golfing with his family, and taking his daily swim. His lake family will miss seeing him on his recumbent bike along MacArthur Road, where he was riding as recently as this past summer. During their retirement years, Peter and Katie also took several international trips to explore different parts of the world.
After moving to the United States, Peter’s parents spoke only English at home and he lost his native tongue, but he retained a strong love of German culture and food throughout his life. While extremely appreciative of anyone who cooked him a nice meal, he especially loved a good wiener schnitzel or sauerbraten. Peter loved to read, and was a serious student of history, especially World War II. He enjoyed a good show, listening to music, and cheering on the Green Bay Packers, the Wisconsin Badgers, and the Carolina Hurricanes. Never one to want to be left out of any activity, he was happy to golf, curl, bike, swim, and even zipline with anyone who would join him. His grandchildren will miss their “Pistol Pete” in next year’s fantasy football league. Peter was a man of many achievements, but among his most amazing was the fact that he never had a harsh word for his boys, despite all of the opportunities they gave him to use one. He was a kind, loving, teddy bear of a man who will be greatly missed by all who knew him. We will miss you DeeDee.
Peter was predeceased by his parents, his wife Katie, his sisters- and brothers-in-laws Margaret and Howie Gilbertson, and Ann and Fred Butler. Peter is survived by his sons and daughters-in-laws, Curt and Marguerite (Meg) of Charlottesville, Virginia, Douglas (Doug) and Paige of Raleigh, North Carolina; and John (Jack) and Stephanie Lyons of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; as well as seven grandchildren, Max, Ada, Brett, Peter, Joseph, Nicholas, and Rowan Haensel. He is also survived by special sisters- and brother-in-law, Joan Caldwell of Levering, Michigan; and Treva and William (Bill) Breuch of Madison, Wisconsin, as well as many loved nieces and nephews.
If you would like to make a donation in his memory, gifts to the Douglas Lake Improvement Association or Little Traverse Conservancy would be appreciated.
For more on services and to share your condolences, visit Hill and Wood Funeral Service.