| Military Service: Education: Occupation: Military: Marriage: |
Kirk Army Hospital, MD Combat Medic, E-5 First Air Cavalry, Viet Nam University of Minnesota BS Chemistry Post graduate BS Chemical Engineering Chemical engineer for Dupont Corporation Market Development Manager for Dupont Vice President of Pilot Industries Ann Arbor, MI Combat Surgeon with the 1st Cav in Vietnam Joan Kay Kampa September 23, 1967 Menomonie, Dunn, Wisconsin |
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| Children: | Erik Jon | June 10, 1974 | |
| Peter Kampa | Dec. 15, 1976 | ||
| Paul Rud | Oct. 4, 1979 |
| Notes: | (Don Kampa's memories of Rod Will): "Joan met Rod Will in 1964 at the wedding of some mutual friends. They started dating nine months later |
| during the winter
of 1965. . . . Although Rod was a full time student at the
University of Minnesota, in the summer of '65 he was
drafted into the Army. After basic training at Fort Lewis,
Washington, he was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Ground
in Maryland where he worked as a surgical technician at
Kirk Army Hospital. . . .
"Then, in September of 1967, Rod received orders for Viet Nam. Joan and he decided to secretly elope before he left for Nam. With a couple of friends as witnesses, they were married on a sunny and warm fall Saturday, September 23, 1967. The wedding was conducted in a small church located in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Their wedding night was indeed spent together while they enjoyed an intimate dinner out with Dorothy (she, of course, had no idea of the events earlier that day). Their wedding night would have included me, were it not for the fact that I was out of town. Rod left for Viet Nam the next morning -- the weather was grey that day. Four months later they let their families know of their marriage. "Rod was assigned to the First Air Cavalry as a combat medic. He returned from Viet Nam in August of 1968 with the rank of E-5 and resumed his studies at the University of Minnesota. When Rod left for Vietnam, he was a strapping six-foot two, vigorous individual. When he returned, he looked haggard. Apparently the heat and conditions there had caused him to lose a great deal of weight. After Rod's return, we gave the two of them a big party and invited all of their friends, about two hundred people, to a reception at a hotel in the Summit area in St. Paul. . . . "In 1971, Rod graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Since the job market was poor and he still to get a post graduate BS degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1973, Rod was hired by the DuPont Corporation to work as a Chemical Engineer in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Joan and Rod lived in Parkersburg for ten years and in 1983, relocated to DuPont corporate offices in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1988, DuPont transferred them to Clarkston, Michigan, where Rod worked as a Market Development Manager. After twenty-three years with DuPont, Rod took early retirement and accepted a position as Vice President of Pilot Industries. Pilot manufactures automotive fuel systems and is located near Ann Arbor, Michigan." Rod fell into a deep sleep and had difficulty breathing but could not be revived by medics at the hospital. He died there the evening of June 8, 2017 at the age of 72. (Dick Kampa's memories of Rod Will): "There was a memorial service for Rod last week put on by his Yarnell, AZ friends and neighbors. He was eulogized for his well-recognized ability for construction and problem solving and helpfulness to neighbors. His inventiveness was seen by all in the project to build a large garage and then eventually a house atop a hill on the 40 acres they owned in rural Yarnell. "He and Joan had worked at this for a few months each of the last 15 years when they came from Michigan. They rebuilt an old miner's cabin at the foot of the hill for them to live in while working on the project up the steep incline. This involved building a well and pumping system and trenching for a line to commercial power. The garage is about 2000 square feet and includes a living room, bathroom, kitchen, workshop and stalls for cars. It provided lots of challenges that Rod loved to face and solve. "Joan has a nice place to come to when visiting from Clarkston. A nice tribute to her husband." (from a June 30, 2017 e-mail to Rae Bordua) |
| Ancestry: | The Carl Balder Line [through marriage] |
| The Franz Kampa Line [through marriage] | |
| The Stimmler/Stimler Line [through marriage] |
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