July 27, 2015 at 4:16 p.m.
Community gathers to support Wege family
Friends share fond memories, positive words
Community gathers to support Wege family
By Kayla Thomason-
The benefit was originally planned to raise money for Wege's lung transplant, but after he passed away on July 10 at the age of 30, it was decided the proceeds will be used to help his family cover some medical costs.
"So far I think it's a great turnout," said Ellen Wege, A.J.'s wife. "(We've received) a lot of support from the community."
Wege said she has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love her family has received from their friends and neighbors.
"It just shows me how much A.J., my husband, and Dale, my father-in-law (who died June 1) really meant to this community and how much they really did influence so many people," she said. "I always knew they were great parts of the community, but it's really overwhelming."
She was not the only one impressed by the number of people who came to the benefit.
"For starting at 4 o'clock the parking lot is full already so that surprised me, but not really because A.J. really was, he meant a lot to this community," said Marko Modic, a fellow bowler. "(The turnout is) fantastic, I just wish he was around to see how much he meant to a lot of people."
Those attending the benefit included past co-workers, area firefighters (both Weges were firefighters), bowlers (A.J. Wege was a competitive kegler) and a community that was touched in some way by A.J Wege's presence.
"A.J. just had a really big heart and he loved taking care of (and) being a part of the community," said Ellen Wege. "He loved his role as a firefighter and first responder."
Norman Peterson, the deputy chief of the Pelican Fire Department, knew A.J. over the years as the Pelican and Pine Lake departments provide mutual aid to one another.
"A.J. was a good, good firefighter, devoted to that," Peterson said. "I always appreciated responding to calls when we could work together. Pine Lake and Pelican work together well and A.J. was one of the people that made that happen."
A.J. took his job as a volunteer firefighter very seriously. He did research and took a lot of training courses so he could teach the new firefighters as best he could, according to Mike Moore, his longtime friend.
"Here's a kid - as Nick (Plouff, a friend) put it in his eulogy - with a lung disease (cystic fibrosis) that chose to volunteer to go into burning buildings to help others," he said. "That takes a special kind of person to do something like that and he is going to be sorely, sorely missed by a lot of people."
Moore has known A.J. since Wege was 12 and they were working at Hodag Lanes. That's when Wege fell in love with bowling, he said.
Wege had a drive and desire to learn more about bowling and improve his skills. He got good enough to competed in the U.S. Open.
"I only knew him for a short period of time but even in those few three years that I've known him he touched my family," Modic said.
He said he was blown away by A.J.'s phenomenal bowling skills.
He shared a fond memory of hitting the lanes with his friend.
On Wednesdays they'd bowl and if someone got a 7-10 split the bowling alley would buy them a shot of alcohol, he said. A.J. didn't drink so whenever he got the split he'd give it to someone else.
"Someone said, 'Well, A.J. you know if you get a 7-10 split I'd drink those all day long,'" Modic said. "I watched him purposely roll the next five balls - and that's every other lane - purposely to get a 7-10 split. Now to me that was more amazing than anyone bowling a 300, because he purposely threw the ball down the lane to leave the seven and 10 so that he could give a shot away."
Peterson hopes that the benefit helps take some of the burden off the Wege family.
"I'm hoping that the family can benefit, there's been a great outpouring of gifts given to be used to help the family," he said.
Some raffle items included a guitar that was signed by each artist who performed earlier this month at Hodag Country Fest, a rug, a table Moore made out of bowing pins and bowling decks, golfing items, and of course more bowling items.
"Ellen, what an incredible person she is, she's the one thing that made A.J. feel like he was the luckiest man on earth, a man who knew that his time was short and that didn't matter, she made him feel really lucky and she doesn't deserve to be saddled with I'm sure quite a bit of (medical) expenses," said Moore.
He said he will always remember the strength his friend displayed and the passion with which he lived his life.
"I guess one of the most important things is just how strong a person he was," Moore said. "Most of us know that our days on earth are numbered, he knew that his number was smaller than everybody else."
Moore said A.J. never gave up, it was his that body that gave out.
"Here's a young man that never really worried so much about what was happening to him, he was more interested in doing - as his brother (who also succumbed to cystic fibrosis) would have put it - living life and doing what he could for other people and being as happy as he could in the time he had," Moore said.
During A.J.'s funeral, as everyone was getting ready for the procession, Moore said he was comforted by a vivid picture in his mind.
"I could picture him sitting up there at the funeral when they were driving out to the fire department, I could picture him sitting up there with his dad and his brother, pointing and laughing and saying 'look what we did, we tied up traffic in town,'" he said.
Ellen Wege said the family has been comforted by the community's determination to remember and honor her husband.
"He was a great man and I miss him a lot," she said. "It just helps me to know that he'll never be forgotten because this many people really loved and cared for him."
Those who would like to make a donation to the Wege family can visit www.gofundme.com/tby97s.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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