Mark Bigalke

Mark Bigalke passed away at his home in Custer on the morning of Monday, August 10 at age 64. He is survived by his children, Zachary and Brittany, his grandchildren, Alice and Colter, his longtime partner, Robin Scheel, his siblings, Michael and Susan, and the generations of family and friends who knew him as Uncle Mark.

Born in Stevens Point on April 13, 1962, Mark grew up in Custer as the last of four children born to Nick and Evelyn Bigalke. A 1980 graduate of Stevens Point Area High School, Mark welcomed his son Zachary into the world in December 1982 and married Doreen Knoll in June 1983. Two months after the birth of his second child, Brittany, in December 1987, the family relocated to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. There Mark became a valued member of the community in Teton County, working for seventeen years as the IT director of Grand Teton Lodge Company and serving as a firefighter and treasurer for the Moran Volunteer Fire Department between 1988 and 2004.

Though the pull of the west remained strong throughout his life, Mark remained a child of Wisconsin with all its attendant sports fanhoods. Born during the rise of the 1960s Green Bay dynasty under Vince Lombardi, Mark passed on his love of the Packers to his children. He celebrated with family and friends from afar, watching Super Bowl XXXI on a television powered by a diesel generator in the middle of a Wyoming blizzard and power outage as Green Bay claimed its first championship in nearly three decades. He also cheered when the Wisconsin Badgers went to Pasadena as Big Ten champions in 1994 for their first Rose Bowl trip in more than thirty years, and watched with his son in 2021 when the Milwaukee Bucks finally reclaimed their first NBA championship in half a century. And, though he never got to see the Milwaukee Brewers win a World Series during his lifetime, the rhythms of the ballpark continued to consume his interests during the long days of summer to the very end.

That joy for accomplishment extended to his children’s pursuits. Despite working long hours at the resort, Mark always made time to cheer from poolside during his son's and daughter's swim meets with the local team, to attend their theater productions throughout middle school and high school, to serve as a judge for the high school speech and debate team, and to celebrate their achievements even into adulthood. Two of his proudest moments as a father were watching in person as his daughter graduated from the University of Oregon in 2010 and his son graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2024.

Mark was an enthusiastic lover of music who enjoyed nothing more than hearing a good song for the first time. He was a fan of keeping up with new music trends throughout his life, building a large collection that crossed genres and eras. Whether seeing The Cars at his first live concert, setting up a stereo system to amaze his children with the magic of surround sound, or spending a Sunday morning reconnecting to his roots and listening to polka in his garage, Mark always found contentment in a catchy tune.

Mark was also an accomplished woodworker, trained first in carpentry before pivoting in his twenties toward a career with computers. Whether working on home improvement projects, assembling model boats, constructing intricately designed clocks, or building sheds to hold all of his tools and completed projects, Mark reveled in the smell of fresh-cut lumber and getting sawdust in his hair.

Returning to the Midwest in 2004, Mark first worked as an IT director for Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, Illinois for two years before returning to Custer to be closer to family. Moving into his childhood home for the last two decades of his life, Mark worked in various IT capacities for local companies in Portage County during his last years in the workforce. He took joy in his later years in visiting his grandchildren in Oregon, embarking on adventures around the world with his partner Robin, enjoying the company of generations of extended family, and shooting pool in leagues across the county and around the state.

A celebration of life will be held for Mark at Matero’s Pub and Pizza (7335 State Highway 66, Custer) on Wednesday, August 19 from 1:00-4:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, Mark’s family requests donations to your local volunteer fire department in his memory.

Pisarski Funeral Homes are honored to be serving the Bigalke Family. For online condolences please visit www.pisarskifunerahome.com