Uncle Art was born on March 23, 1915 and died on October 30, 1999 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, North Chicago, IL.

Funeral Services were held at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of Oak Woods Cemetary,Oak Woods, on Tuesday, November 3rd, 1999. He is buried in the Haedtler family plot with his Dad, Mom (Corinne), and Stepmother (Lillian).

Uncle Art was raised in Chicago and Oak Lawn. Graduated from Morgan Park High School and went to work with his Dad in the family business, William Haedtler, Millinary. Eventually Uncle Art ran the business after his Dad died while he was judging the Mackinac Race.

His Dad was a Lake Michigan sailor, and had both sail and power boats.

On October 17, 1941 the USS KEARNY was torpedoed by a U-boat.

On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked.

On January 2, 1942, Uncle Art enlisted in the Navy.

On February 24, 1942 Uncle Art was mustered onto the KEARNY from "Old Ironsides". This was a very proud moment for him and the United States Navy. KEARNY was the first casualty of WWII and the first ship to be recommisioned.

Uncle Art served on another ship, the SS Delta (that is when this picture was taken, in August, 1944, in front of the "Palace of the King of Naples") in WWII and was discharged on December 29, 1945.

Uncle Art was recalled for the Korean War and served from April 11, 1951 to July 28, 1952 in the Pacific on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.

His proudest service was aboard the destroyer USS KEARNY

Uncle Art was a Life Member of VFW Post 6693 in Vernon Hills, IL with his Nephew, John "Jack" Froemke. "Uncle Jack" and his family, "Berta", "Debbie", and "JJ", had helped watch over him since in January 1994, his Grandniece, Andrea, had found him in his bedroom when he had a stroke after shoveling snow. Andrea is an RN and called 911. "Bill" and "Jack" had worried about Uncle Art for all these years and if ever the expressions 'at rest' and 'at peace' were used to describe a loved ones passing, they describe it now for our Uncle Art.

After he closed the family business he worked in the luggage department at the Downtown Marshall Fields Store for over 25 years.

Upon retiring from Marshall Fields he continued to live in Oak Lawn. His family was important to him. His Sister, Helen Froemke, and Helens husband LeRoy, lived in the family farmhouse next to him. Eventually that Oak Lawn family included Helen and LeRoys oldest son, William "Bill" Froemke and his wife, Denise. They also had four children sharing the Oak Lawn community and running in and out of Uncle Art's house, Suzanne (living in Woodstock with her two children, Brock and Nic), Cynthia (living in Tiboron with her husband Dominic Buscemi who also was one of the rug rats in Uncle Art's house), Andrea (who lives in Gautier, MS with her husband David), and David (who now lives in Santa Monica, CA). The other people running through his house were his second cousins, Lynn Dunlop nee Haedtler (who lives in Snowmass Village with her husband Tom), Laurie Haedtler living in Oak Lawn and John Haedtler, living in Artesia, New Mexico. His extended family includes his cousin Marjorie Kindry and her husband Hal living in Las Cruces, NM, and Jimmy Rutherford and his wife Di living in Kingwood, TX and there children, Wendy and Christa.

The Haedtler and Froemke family misses Uncle Art.