Joseph R. Pfiffner, 92, Port Charlotte, Fla., a Stevens Point native and a retired Sentry Insurance executive and Stevens Point attorney, died Friday, April 18, 2008.
Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the Town Hall in South Port Square in Port Charlotte, Fla., with a reception following at Gabbles West at South Port Square.
A private family burial service will be held in St. Stephen Cemetery in Stevens Point at a later date.
Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Salvation Army, 2735 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, FL 33952; or First Presbyterian Church, 2230 Hariet St., Port Charlotte, FL 33952.
Mr. Pfiffner was born Feb. 29, 1916, in Stevens Point, a son of the late J. Roe and Harriet (Langenberg) Pfiffner. He attended St. Stephen Grade School and was valedictorian of his graduating class at P.J. Jacobs High School.
He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a bachelor of arts degree in 1938 and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. He received a doctor of law degree from UW-Madison in 1940.
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater as a second lieutenant from 1940 to 1943.
He retired as chief claims counsel for Sentry Insurance Co. in Stevens Point after 39 years. After retirement in 1980 he became counsel to the law firm Anderson, Fisher, Shannon, O'Brien and Rice in Stevens Point.
He moved from Stevens Point to Englewood, Fla., in 1983, and later to Port Charlotte, Fla.
He was a longtime member of the Wisconsin State Bar Association and a 66-year member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge 641, where he was the past exalted ruler.
He was also active in the local government of Stevens Point, serving on the Plan Commission, the Historic Design Review Commission and the Board of Appeals.
He retired to Florida in 1983, living at Alemeda Isles in Englewood and recently lived at South Port Square Retirement Community in Port Charlotte, Fla.
He sang in choirs and played the saxophone with The Grenadiers in Stevens Point and the No Name Band in the Englewood, Fla., area.
Survivors include his wife, Wilma; two daughters, Patrice A. (Kenneth) Shibilski, Plover, and Katherine (George) Williams, River Falls; one son, Joseph M., Wauwatosa; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by two wives, Harriet Hager in 1946 and Marjorie Frost in 1960; and one brother, Thomas R.