Michael Koelsch

Michael John Krentz Koelsch was born on April 18th, 1968 in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and died on October 24th, 2009 at his home in Joliet, Illinois. Michael was the only child of Sharron Koelsch (Larrabee) and George Krentz and spent his earlier years living in Frederic, Wisconsin. He attended the Archbishop Brady High School, where he graduated in 1986, and went on to study at Intermont Equestrian College in Bristol, Virginia. He followed up his year in Virginia with a 6-month period studying horse jumping under Olympic gold-medalist Joan Curtin. In exchange for his room, board, and riding lessons, Michael maintained Curtin's stables and groomed her horses. After that, he worked as a riding instructor at Iowa Stables in Iowa City, where he also participated in competitive show jumping. After spending many years in equestrian study, Michael shifted his career focus, moving to St. Paul, Minnesota to study Cosmetology at the Horst Institute. He interned at Horst for two years before moving out to San Francisco to work at Bella Capelli's. From there, he moved to the Gold Coast in Chicago, where he worked as a Master Cosmotologist at Buzz Salon for six years. Mike is preceded in death by his father George, and he is survived by his mother Sharron, aunts, uncles, cousins, many other close friends, and his two Shar Pei dogs - Gracie and ATN. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the Swedberg-Taylor Funeral Home in Siren on Saturday, November 14, 2009, with Pastor Steve Ward officiating. The interment will be held at the Lakeview Cemetery in Hertel, Wisconsin.