Michael J. Hartl, 81 of rural Stratford died peacefully at his home with his family at his side on Saturday, November 22, 2014. Mass of Christian Burial will be 1:30pm Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Stratford with Fr. John Robert Alphonse officiating. St. Joseph's Resurrection Choir will provide the music. Burial will be in St. Joseph's Cemetery, town of Eau Pleine, Marathon County with his grandchildren as pallbearers. Visitations will be from 4-8pm Tuesday at Sauter/Rembs Funeral Home in Stratford and again on Wednesday at the church from 12:30pm until service time. Mike was born on June 13, 1933 in Stratford to Michael and Elizabeth (Kauer) Hartl. He attended St. Joseph's Parochial School in Stratford. He was united in marriage to Delores M. Mueller on June 1, 1960 in Stratford. He was a dairy farmer all his life, starting as a young child on the farm with his dad. He later bought the farm in 1961 and continued to farm the land. In 1990 he sold the farm to his son and continued to help out on the farm until this day. For a short while, he worked for Buetsch Implement, Heiten Manufacturing and hauled milk in his free time. In his younger years, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, snowmobile drag racing, stock car racing, and motorcycling. In his later years, he loved to fish, hunting, shooting pool, bowling and enjoyed watching his grandchildren at lawn mower races, however his true passion was farming. Mike also loved playing with his dog Scooter and cooking maple syrup. He is survived by his wife Delores, children, Michael (Linda) Hartl of Stratford, Sandra (Brian) Kloos of Stratford, Pamela (Rick) Eslinger of Spencer and Cathleen (Dan) Skrzeczkoski of Charlevoix, Mi; 7 grandchildren, Michael Hartl Jr., Ashley and Stacie Hartl; John and Joseph Kloos and Cody and Tanner Eslinger. He is further survived by 3 sisters Anna Ellenbecker of Bruce, Wi, Dolores (Jack) Fors of Indianapolis, IN, and Elizabeth (Leon) Grendzinski of Wausau. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters Mary Treml and Magdelene (Goetsch) VanRysin. Family would like to thank the Ministry Hospice nurses for their compassionate care for Mike. Condolences may be sent online to www.rembsfh.com