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Tom lived to serve the surrounding community.

Thomas A. Lefeber, 79, of Rural Kiel, died peacefully with his family by his side on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at Dimensions Living Sheboygan, where he was a resident for over four years during his battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Tom was born on June 19, 1947 in Fond du Lac County, to the late Leo and Adeline (Sabel) Lefeber. He was a graduate of New Holstein High School with the class of 1965. Tom continued his education at North Central Technical Institute in Wausau, pursuing a degree in Agricultural Marketing. He worked as a salesman for Ralston Purina for several years. After that, Tom owned and operated St. Nazianz Milling Inc from 1973 until 2016 when he sold it to retire and start new chapters of his life. After meeting Kathy D. Jaehnig at a class he was teaching, they wed on September 20, 1997 at their home. After retirement, Tom enjoyed his time both working and playing at local golf courses as well as leading worship services at local churches, nursing homes and even the fair. He was known to fill a church with standing room only when he was on the pulpit. Tom was a longtime member of Bethel United Methodist Church, where he served on the board.

Tom lived to serve the surrounding community. He was the charter president of the Kiel Optimist Club where he was instrumental in developing and supporting many youth sports programs in the Kiel area. He coached many youth teams over the years. A major project with the club that he coordinated was a brick salvage project where 260,000 bricks were kept out of landfills and sold to raise money for local youth activities. It also provided jobs for many unemployed workers in the area. His other noteworthy project with the Optimist club was an identification program called Safe Assured that could be accessed by law enforcement in cases of abduction. It was for children and any interested adults. He was a member of the Sleik Riders, Kiel and Louis Corners Snowmobile Clubs where he took pride in teaching snowmobile safety classes for over 30 years.

Tom was active with his agriculture business organizations as well; IDO (Independent Dealers Organization) which he held the position of President from 2002-2006 and served on the board for several years. He was also a member and on the board of WASA (Wisconsin Agri-Service Association) and served as President from 2008-2010.

Tom spent many nights and weekends at the ball diamond playing softball or coaching over the years. His specialty was pitching, especially his unlimited arc pitches. Tom would also find time to golf on leagues at Quit Qui Oc as well as Autumn Ridge Golf Courses. In winter you could find him doing trips to Wyoming snowmobiling and he even made a snowmobile trip across Canada once.

Tom enjoyed spending time with his family. He and his grandchildren loved their annual silly string fight at Easter and winter sledding parties at the house. He loved attending the sporting and other events of his twelve grandchildren. He was in the bleachers, stands or seats every chance he got. After the games, he could always be found giving them some post game wisdom.

He is survived by his wife: Kathy D. Lefeber; their children: Angie (Mark) Schorer, Jason (Gebriel) Lefeber, Brian (Jenilee) Schaeuble and Marc (Kris) Schaeuble; twelve grandchildren: Matthew, Josh (Paige) and Aaron Schorer, Jonah and Rebekah Lefeber, Brayden and Lyla Schaeuble, Emma Olsen, Graham Schaeuble and Greta, Barrett and Julia Schaeuble; one great granddaughter: River; siblings: Leo (Maggie) Lefeber Jr., Robert Lefeber, Mary Lou Blattner, Laura (Gary) Elonen, Joe (Sheri) Lefeber, Linda Lefeber, Jerry Lefeber (Rick) and the mother of Angie and Jason: Christine (Cal) Breunig. Tom is further survived by many nieces, nephews, other relatives and many special friends he met along the way of his adventures.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, along with their wives: David (Ruth) Lefeber and Donald (Marilyn) Lefeber; a brother-in-law: Robert Blattner, father-in-law and mother-in-law: Robert and Caroline Jaehnig and brother-in-law, along with his wife: David (Theresa) Jaehnig.

Funeral Services for Tom will be held at 5:00PM on Sunday, Oct 11, 2026 at Pielhop Sippel Funeral Home (2618 Altona Ave. New Holstein). Officiating at the service will be Pastor Chris Tores from Bethel United Methodist Church. Cremation will follow the service and he will be laid to rest at a later date at Saxon Cemetery, Cleveland.

The family will greet relatives and friends at the funeral home from 1:00PM until 4:45PM when the family will hold brief family rites.

In lieu of flowers the family will be establishing a memorial in Tom’s name.

The family would like to express their appreciation to Dimensions Living Sheboygan for the great care given to Tom and his family over the years as well as Aurora Home Health and Hospice for the care and compassion shown to their family in Tom’s last days with us.