Everett Matisse Engles

On October 29, 2017, Everett Matisse Engles peacefully passed away after a short illness, with many loved ones nearby, at the age of 77.

Everett—or T.C., as most people knew him—was born in 1940, in Goodman, Wisconsin. He was one of six children born to Melvin and Sylvia (Pronteau) Engles.

T.C.’s beloved wife, Lynette (Giere) Engles, passed away in 2006, after 45 years of marriage.

T.C. is survived by his children Timothy (partner Christina) Engles, English Professor at Eastern Illinois University; Kimberlyn (Kurtis) Gelhar, Operations & Logistics Manager in Butler; grandchildren Daniel (Dana), Kaleigh (Jason), Tanya, Hanna; and great-grandson Augustus, son of Daniel.

T.C. will be dearly missed by his surviving sisters and brothers, Dixie (Howard) Hawley, Patricia (Paul) Senn, Roy (Rhea), and Bernie (Moira) Engles. Brother Melvin (Linda) preceded T.C.’s passing.

T.C. will be remembered by many as smart, curious, physically active, good-humored, and caring about others. He spent 25 years living in the Milwaukee area, but he always deeply loved the woods, lakes, rivers and streams where he was born and raised. He often said that his first job, at the age of 10, was stripping bark from poplar trees. His last job, which he was still doing up until a week or so before he passed away, was overseeing the kilns at the lumber mill in Goodman.

T.C. met the love of his life, Lyn, in high school, where she was a cheerleader who encouraged his efforts as the football team’s quarterback. After graduation, they got married on the same day as both of their birthdays—February 1. T.C. and Lyn then moved to Milwaukee to start a family. While Lyn found work in the offices of the Weinberg Shoe Company, T.C. became a typist for a large printing company, George Seelman & Sons. T.C.’s quick fingers, sharp mind, and steadfast work ethic propelled him up the company ladder. By the mid-1980s, as the Vice President in Charge of Production, he oversaw more than 300 printing press employees.

When Seelman & Sons closed down, T.C. and Lyn sold their Milwaukee-area home and moved back to Goodman. They bought the town’s longstanding grocery store on Mill Street, and they ran it together for ten years (as Northland Foods) while living above the store. When bigger stores rose up and became too much to compete with, they sold the building and bought a home in town. T.C. attended the University of Minnesota for a kiln-operating course, then returned to work at the lumber mill in Goodman, as a kiln operations specialist.

When he retired, T.C. kept busy with many friends and hobbies—bowling, fly tying, trap shooting, golf, poker, cribbage, reading, and criticizing choices made by coaches for the Packers and the Brewers. He was a great storyteller, and he loved to discuss and debate almost any subject, especially with friends at his lifelong favorite bar, 8-Hi (where as a child he also found work in the bowling lanes, as a pin-setter).

T.C. was always an avid fisherman, and a hunter (of animals and birds, as well as several kinds of berries, when his kids bugged him enough to take them to his secret berry patches). He also loved just being in the woods, and he drove slowly for hours nearly every afternoon in the giant maze of local logging roads. He kept his eyes peeled for deer, bear, and wolves, and his ears alert for his favorite bird call, the Hermit Thrush.

Later in life T.C. felt lucky that his life circled back to Goodman. Soon he will make another big life circle, when Tim and Kimberlyn spread his ashes throughout his many favorite outdoor places.

T.C. loved to teach people how to do things, and he often stopped by the Goodman trout pond to advise kids on their fishing methods. The pond currently needs some work, and the town of Goodman has established a restoration fund in T.C.’s honor. When the pond is restored, a sign will be erected to memorialize the restoration in honor of Everett “T.C.” Engles.

ln lieu of flowers, please send donations to “Town of Goodman” (and in the Memo section, “T.C.’s Trout Pond Fund”) to:

Town of Goodman
T.C.’s Trout Pond Fund
506 Mill St.
Goodman, WI 54125

On SATURDAY, November 11, a Memorial Service and a Celebration of Life will be held in Goodman.

The Service will be held at the Union Protestant Church on 4th Street. Visitation begins at 1pm, service at 3pm.

The Celebration of Life will be held at 8-Hi, just east of town on Highway 8, beginning at 5pm.