Robert John McConaughey, age 81, of Hudson, WI, died on October 6th, 2010 at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, Minnesota. Robert was born on June 29th, 1929 to Robert & Effie (Betterley) McConaughey in Cushing, Wisconsin. Robert grew up on the family farm in Houlton, Wisconsin and attended school at Stillwater High School. Robert would continue to work on the farm until 1949 when he began work at Andersen Windows in Bayport. His first job was as a window glazer and over the next 40 years he would work other jobs for Andersens, including quality control, moulder operator, extruding and finally as a supervisor. Robert would retire from Andersens in 1989. It was shortly after starting work at Andersens that Robert married his high school sweetheart, Maxine Anderson. The two grew up in Houlton together and were joined in marriage on June 29th, 1950 at St. Charles Catholic Church in Bayport, Minnesota. The marriage would be blessed with 6 children.

Robert had many passions. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping. He also loved to travel with his family. Robert and Maxine found that they had successfully traveled to all 50 states as well as all but one province of Canada. Robert had great skills in carpentry and building. He helped build many homes for family and friends. With Maxine, Robert enjoyed gardening. He loved music, particularly country, folk and Irish folk music. He and Maxine also took ballroom dancing and loved to dance. Robert also stayed very involved with his grandkids, attending shows, concerts and sporting events. He was a big fan of Packer, Badger and Blugold Football. What made his activities special was that he was able to share them with those he loved.

Robert touched many lives and will be missed. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Maxine of Hudson; his children, Brad (Holly) of Clayton, Cynthia (Raymond) Wichelman of Hudson, Timothy (Mary Jo) of Hammond, Keith (Lori) of Spring Valley, and Tracy (Mike) Barr of Hudson; grandchildren, Jesse (Megan) and Jon McConaughey of Somerset, Hailey Geurkink of Hudson, Burt Guerkink of Eau Claire, Bobbi Jo Wichelman of Dayton, OH, Jacob (Kelsey) Wichelman of Hammond, Kurt Wichelman of Hudson, Tanya and Tamera McConaughey of Hudson, Sonya (Cory) Howard & Kelly and Ericka Smolinski of Hudson, Amber (Nathan) Lee of Baldwin, Erin (Aaron) Benson of Woodville and Lucas and Levi Nygaard of Hudson; great-grandchildren, Dylan, Cole, Addisyn, Carson, and Gage; twin brother, Richard (Phyllis) of Houlton; sisters-in-Law, Carol McConaughey of Houlton, and Karen (Jerry) York of Emerald; and brother-in-Law, Earl Stensgaard of Hudson. Robert is preceded in death by his parents; son Rodney; and siblings, Tom, Margaret, Louise, Cora and Dorothy.

Services for Robert McConaughey will be held on Monday, October 11th 2010 at 11am at St. Patricks Catholic Church in Hudson. Burial will follow at the Houlton Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 from 1-4pm at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson as well as 1 hour prior to mass at the church on Monday. Services are in the care of the O’Connell Family Funeral Home – Hudson, Wisconsin.