Frank Karnowski

Frank Karnowski, 77, of Pulaski, WI passed away on March 25, 2026 after a two-year battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loved ones.

Frank was born in Stevens Point, WI, on March 5, 1949, to Valentine and Helen Karnowski. He was the second oldest in a family of seven children who grew up living and working on the family farm.

After graduating from Pacelli High School, Frank worked at the paper mill before attending heavy equipment training school in Illinois. He excelled in this work; one of his teachers told him that if he kept running machinery like he did, he would never have to worry about finding a job. Frank spent most of his career operating a scraper on large highway and building site projects across the state. He took pride in his work and his knowledge of heavy equipment; he was often requested for jobs that required his expertise.

Frank met the love of his life, Carol, on a date set up by his sister Grace. They got married in October 1973 and lived in Milwaukee. They moved to rural Pulaski in 1980 where they raised their daughters; they lived there until Carol’s passing in 2024.

Frank adored his daughters and grandchildren and always went out of his way to make them feel loved: green oatmeal on St. Patrick’s Day, preparing his from-scratch special waffles, allowing his granddaughters to paint his nails or dye his hair, or helping his daughter with a 4th grade science project while healing from a severely burned hand. After his retirement, Frank and Carol babysat all three of their infant grandchildren full-time. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to help his family and friends.

Frank loved everything outdoors. There are many stories of him and his brothers and friends hunting on the family farm (to this day, there are still debates on who actually shot the bear…). Ice fishing was a weekly event during the winter. He always had a huge garden with every vegetable imaginable. He was a great cook – although as kids, his girls may not have appreciated his stewed cabbage and raisins or fried fish egg patties as much as they would have as adults!

Frank was very mechanically inclined; he could fix just about anything with an engine. He was very handy and renovated his entire house and later helped with numerous projects in his children’s homes as well. Frank had an amazing sense of direction – he just had to visit a place once and from then on remember how to get there. He had a great laugh and loved to joke and tease.

He spent the last year and a half of his life living with his daughter Laurie and her family. He spent his time cooking, driving around on the 4-wheeler, starting a new garden, shuttling grandkids around, attending their events, and buying too much from Sam’s Club and Amazon (much to Laurie’s chagrin).

Frank was preceded in death by his wife Carol, parents Valentine and Helen, brother Mike and sister Grace. He is survived by daughters Susann, Laurie (Dennis), Amanda (Shawn), grandkids Amelia, Allyson and Joey; siblings Dennis (Joanie), Rose (Tom), Christine (Mark), Bob (LeeAnn), sister-in-law Jane and brother-in-law Mike; sister-in-law Denise (Boyd) and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Thank you to Unity Hospice staff for their incomparable care of Frank. It was with their help he was able to spend his final weeks at home under the care of his daughters.

A Celebration of Life open house and lunch for Frank will be held on Saturday, April 25 from noon to 3 p.m. at A Gathering For You, 822 Cormier Rd, Green Bay, WI.