Philip James Insemberg, 96, formerly of Marinette, Wis., Kansas City, and Eureka Springs, Ark., passed away peacefully at Good Samaritan’s Home in Denton, Texas, on July 30, 2019.
He was born in Menominee, Mich., June 15, 1923, the middle child of Walter C. Isenberg and Evelyn (Karnopp) Isenberg of Marinette.
Phil was very close to his grandparents. His grandfather, Carl Isenberg, immigrated to Wisconsin from Berndorf, Waldeck, Germany, with his two brothers in the 1880s. The Isenberg Bros. became noted Sauk County general contractors as well as builders for the Ringling Brothers Circus. They constructed many of the Ringling mansions and circus buildings in Baraboo, Wis., and Florida.
Phil graduated from Marinette High School in 1941. He was an accomplished scholar and athlete, going on to win many awards in tennis and table tennis. He went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for one year intending to be a physician, but his academic career was interrupted by WWII.
He enlisted in the Army, serving in the Medical Corps in North Africa, India, Burma, and China where he “flew over the Hump” (Himalayas). It was during the war that he lost his three best friends, Baron Tideman, Richard Duer and Buddy Boren, a trauma that deeply affected him and gave him a true appreciation of life from an early age. The lone survivor of this friendship group, Phil came home to attend the University of Wisconsin, graduating with a degree in Biology.
He married Ruth M. Nelson of Madison following graduation. Phil came back to Marinette at 81 to honor his “Four Musketeers” friendships, leaving a poem at each of his friends’ graves.
Phil was a man of contagious enthusiasm, emotional wisdom and adventurous spirit. He had many talents and interests: tennis, golf, table tennis, competitive chess and checkers, classical music, advanced flower and vegetable gardening, writing and publishing poetry, British and American history, extensive travel in England and Italy, classic British sports cars and piloting small aircraft. He was owner of his own insurance agency, and owner with his second wife, Eileen, of State Line Greenhouses in Eureka Springs.
He was beloved by his five children who survive him: Ann Elizabeth Isenberg, Bow, N.H.; Mary Ellen Wheeler, Overland Park, Kan.; Mark Nelson Isenberg, Kansas City, Mo.; Marjorie Edith Abel, Wakefield, Kan.; and Carol Evelyn Dillon, Overland Park. He was a favorite grandfather to Bridget, Emily, Miles, Katherine, Laura and Hilary. He had five young great-grandchildren, Charlie, Madison, Brooke, William and Easton. He always had a ready supply of candy, cookies, German beer, salami and cheese. His blue eyes and beautiful smile will be deeply missed by his family who treasure all memories of him.
He was predeceased by his parents, brother Walter, Jr., sister Edith (Reed), and British-born wife, Eileen (Arnold) Isenberg. Cremation with burial in Coppell, Texas, and private memorials later in many Wisconsin locations special to Phil.