Rick D. Wiltzius

Rick Wiltzius, 72, of Wausau, WI passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at Aspirus Wausau Hospital surrounded by his family.

Born June 4th, 1954, to the late Donald G. and Dolores (née Wolfert) Wiltzius in Sheboygan, WI, Rick was a 1972 Graduate of Marinette High School. He moved to Wausau in 1982, and secured a mail truck contract, where he told the bank, “I might not get this loan, but I’m getting this truck.” His determination was always a part of his personality. The split shift would end and start near Stevens Point where his brother Scott lived, so for many years he needed to find outlets for his time. He had the high score on Ms. Pac-Man at the local arcade, and the two of them owned an ice cream truck together for a few summers called Roman Cones. In 1997, he was hired for his final career at the Rothschild USPS Distribution Center where he worked until his retirement in 2017. Retirement allowed him to focus on traveling, visiting casinos, and some collections. It is impossible to estimate the number of trips to Las Vegas or casinos he had taken in his life, but he did accomplish one of his goals: he made it to all the casinos in Wisconsin. His favorite collectables were anything with a buffalo on it, Packers memorabilia, and a “Rubber Dude” collection from the 90s. Rick had many passions and pursuits aside from the casinos and collections, however.

In the late 90s, his parents had a family bingo day at their house on the Menominee River. They took all of their casino prizes and made them the family prizes. Rick loved this idea, and a decade later, him, his wife, his sister Roxanne and husband Gary decided to create their own Wiltzius Family Bingo in honor of their parents. Each bingo card was filled with family members' names, family lore and inside jokes like Cathedral Gorge. IYKYK! Any chance to bring family together was always his priority.

Another passion for about 25 years was disc-golfing. Rick participated in the Badger State Games many years and even finished 1st once in the senior division. That special skill came in handy when Loopy's in Chippewa Falls started an annual Beersbee Tournament, Rick could be found every year with his daughters as teammates, throwing frisbees. They even won third place one year.

Rick discovered geocaching in January of 2006, and spent over a decade as RickBlick & Chick, finding 3,877 caches and even hiding 30 himself. This pastime allowed him to contribute to a book about the Ice Age Trail, highlighting his journey. He also enjoyed kayaking and exploring his local creek and river system while finding geocaches in the process.

He was also a lifelong enthusiast of trivia and being a part of the World’s Largest Trivia Contest. His living room was filled with books on the most obscure movie, TV, music, and sports facts. He loved welcoming dozens of family and friends into his home every April to play 54 hours of non-stop trivia… Fast Eddie! The team once finished as high as 16th of over 500 teams, and even won two special trophies for placing the same as the year of the contest. One of his fondest memories of the trivia stories he told was in the battle with CisCorp in the early 90s. There was a 900-phone trivia game that paid real cash prizes and, with the help of his best friend Jim, they won so much money that the company made the game impossible to win and then went bankrupt.

Rick loved going to the yearly family reunions and seeing all his cousins, aunts and uncles, and their families. He always brought his bag of quarters for a game of cards and he thoroughly enjoyed playing in the family vs. family volleyball tournaments until he and his siblings became too old to play.

In 1972, Rick added his name to the Green Bay Packers season ticket list, and in 2003, his wait was finally over. At a 2008 playoff game with his brother Scott, they donned top hats and sport coats and became known as the Lambeau Mayor, which is the moniker he used for the next 17 years. He was always thinking of the next fun thing for everyone to do. In 2011, he was nominated for the Packer Fan Hall of Fame and after a hotly contested final round, he fell a few hundred votes shy of achieving that honor. As Lambeau Mayor, he would take one fan each year who had never been in Lambeau Field to a game for free. He called them Lambeau Virgins and, if they wanted to, they could wear a pink shirt and profess to the legions of fans that that was their first game. In recent years he, Jim and his son Robert had begun to follow the Packers to one away game per year dressed in the Lambeau Mayor costume which allowed him to see seven other NFL stadiums.

Rick loved a good fire, he had a barn foundation where he would have an annual bonfire, but when not entertaining guests, he could be found around one of three fire pits in his yard, having a unique beer and posting a picture to social media, known as the #FireBeerGuy or just enjoying an Old Style, his favorite. When their daughter Liz and husband Butch built a house next door, they would see him out by his fire and knew if they joined him they were going to enjoy a laugh, a story, and good company.

Rick is survived by his wife, Tammy (née Rickert); children, Jami (Mike) Beno of Menominee, MI, Robert (Lucia) Wiltzius of Harker Heights, TX, Kristi (Devin) Fox of Chippewa Falls, Tiffany (Mark) Schaffner of Colfax, Elizabeth (Butch) Sulzer of Wausau, and John (Bonnie) Cichon of Harrison, AR; 15 grandchildren; his siblings, Roxanne (Gary) Baumgarten of Marinette, Scott (Karen) of Stevens Point, Brian (Jamie) of Marinette, and Mark (partner Jeff Tachik) of Ninilchik, AK.

A celebration of Rick's life will be held Sunday, October 11th 2026, beginning at 11:00 AM at his home at 232149 Sunnybrook Rd Wausau, WI 54403.

Ascend Funeral Home & Cremation Care of Weston is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be shared at www.ascendweston.org.