Erwin Guenter Hardtke, 81, of Sauk Prairie

Erwin Guenter Hardtke, 81, of Sauk Prairie, died at his home on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009.

Mr. Hardtke was born Aug. 20, 1928 in Berlin, Germany to the late Berthold and Elisabeth Hardtke. He married Helga Steinkamp on Aug. 19, 1952. Together they moved to the United States with their three sons on May 19, 1960.  They settled in the Sauk Prairie area where he worked for the Dane County Hospital in Verona as an recreational/occupational therapist for 29 years. Currently he and his wife, Helga, live at Pine Vista in the WestPoint Township.

Mr. Hardtke was very proud of his German Heritage, he served as the president on the Duetsch American National Kongress for 20 years, treasurer of the German Club of Madison for 20 years, and produced the German Music Parade on AM radio for 17 years.

Mr. Hardtke is survived by his wife, Helga of Prairie du Sac; three sons, Norbert (Christine) Hardtke, of Sauk City, Hans-Joachim(Peggy) Hardtke, of Lone Rock and Michael (Renee) Hardtke, of Grapevine, Texas; and was "opa" to his grandchildren, Kimberly, Kevin, Quinn, Jeromy, Rebecca, Derek, Jon-Michael, and Sierra. He is also survived by his two sisters  in Germany, Inge(Richard) and Karin(Guenter) Hardtke.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by tw brothers Wolfgang Labe and Horst Wieckert.

A memorial service was Oct. 27 at the Hooverson Funeral Home in Sauk City. Burial was in the Sauk City Cemetery.  Following the service there was a gathering at the Pine Vista Community Center.