Leo C. Milhaupt

Leo C. Milhaupt, 86, of 33 Maple Ridge Lane, Laurelwood, Asheville, died Wednesday, January 5, 2005, at the VA Medical Center. A native of Appleton, WI, he was a son of the late Leo P. and Florence Bootz Milhaupt. He graduated from Appleton High School and was an Army veteran of WW II. He married the former Augusta Loevenich at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Spartanburg, SC, on June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day. They observed their 60th wedding anniversary this past June. He and his family lived in Tryon for 18 years before moving to Asheville. He held management positions in automobile dealerships until he and his wife purchased Gateway Floral Mart and more recently Biltmore Florist. They were in the florist business for 28 years. He was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Marti M. Baetz and her husband Paul of Scottsdale, AZ; three sons, William Leo Milhaupt of Albuquerque, NM, John A. Milhaupt and his wife Lisa of Campobello, SC, and Jeffrey Milhaupt and his wife Susan of Boone; two grandchildren, Maggie Milhaupt and Lucas Milhaupt of Boone; two step-grandchildren, Wade and Kristin Phillips of Campobello; three brothers, Kenneth J. Milhaupt and his wife Jane of Ruskin, FL, and Richard Milhaupt and Larry Milhaupt and his wife Joan of Appleton; one sister Jeanne Mory and her husband l of Kimberly, WI, and one half-sister Peggy Disteffan of Milwaukee, WI. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated by the Rev. Fr. Wilbur N. Thomas at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at the Basilica of St. Lawrence, D.M. Burial will follow at Green Hills Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Basilica of St. Lawrence, 97 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801. Family and friends may sign the register at Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue on Friday.