Fellow board members remember Wescott supervisor

WESCOTT — Wescott town board members this week remembered Supervisor Phil Zuhse as a knowledgeable man, a mentor and someone who will be greatly missed by the community.

Zuhse passed away Oct. 6 at the age of 84.

He’s certainly going to be missed,” Town Chairman Brian Moesch said. “He was on the board for a long time. Also he was chairman of our planning commission and prior mto that he was chairman of the zoning committee. He’s been very involved with the town. He’s definitely going to be missed. He wore a lot of hats for the town and it’s not easy to replace someone like that very quickly.”

The town board will have to appoint someone to fill out the rest of Zuhse’s term, which expires in April 2021.

Moesch said he didn’t expect that to happen until the December board meeting.

“Phil was a heck of a guy. He was a good guy,” Supervisor Bruce “Duffy” Schultz said.

Schultz said Zuhse and his wife Carolyn did a lot for the community, and Zuhse was always well-informed on issues facing the town.

“Phil was always a very knowledgeable source and he was always very educated on his decisions,” Schultz said. “He’s going to be a hard one to replace.”

Supervisor Marlene Brown started on the town board at the same time as Zuhse, 14 years ago.

“Phil was a mentor to many,” Brown said. “He had a great deal of experience.”

Zuhse worked as a village trustee in Ashwaubenon before moving to the Shawano Lake area.

“I always enjoyed his company,” Brown said. “He was a very positive person and a very knowledgeable man. I think he’s going to be missed by a lot of people for the knowledge that he had and that he offered to others. He was a very sharing man.”

For Supervisor Terry Moede, who worked as the town’s zoning administrator before being appointed to the board last year, Zuhse was more than a town official.

“He was more like a father figure to me in many many ways,” Moede said. “I’m going to miss him a lot.”

Moede said Zuhse was his boss for many years while he was doing zoning for the town.

“He was very competent, very involved, always on top of his game,” Moede said. “He was a good boss.”

Moede said he and Zuhse would meet at least once a week while he was zoning administrator.

“He wanted to make sure he knew what was going on, what potential projects were going on in Wescott,” Moede said. “He was always challenging me, in a good way, to make sure I was doing things correctly.”

Moede later got the chance to work with Zuhse as a board member.

“He was very personable,” Moede said. “I know the community is going to miss him.”

Zuhse was also instrumental in building the new Shawano County Humane Society building on Jaycee Court in Shawano.

He served as treasurer for the humane society, as well as the Shawano Area Lake Association. He was also a member of the Green Bay West Side Lions Club for many years.

A memorial service for Phil will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at The Gathering in Shawano. Following services, a celebration of life will be held from 4:30-7 p.m. Burial will be in Lake Drive Cemetery.