WWII Veteran suits up for hockey at 98

Navy Veteran Gene Wagner learned to skate on a frozen creek next to his childhood home in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, when he was three or four years old.

“I came from a hockey family with my brothers,” Wagner said. “We played hockey. We played baseball. We played everything. That was during the Great Depression in the ‘30s.”

Wagner’s older brothers left to fight when the United Stated entered World War II, giving him the chance to play in the Wisconsin State Hockey League when he was only 15 years old.

Wagner was drafted upon graduating high school in 1945. After his discharge in 1946, he moved to Milwaukee and worked as a barber, owning two shops in the city for many years.

In 1967, he moved with his wife to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where he taught three daughters and a son how to skate.

Return to the ice

In 1995, the Ozaukee Ice Center was built in Mequon, Wisconsin, minutes away from his house. Five years later, Wagner returned to the game of his youth when he founded the Bald Eagles, a hockey club for people 55 and over. He was 72 at the time.

Today, at 98, Wagner still suits up and plays on Tuesdays and Fridays. His teammates include Deb Donovan, who has been with the club since its early days.

“During the pandemic, I had two mini strokes, and I was afraid to get on the ice,” Wagner said. “She actually helped me for quite a long time to get back on the ice. I give her a lot of credit for that.”

‘Every day is a gift’

Since his discharge in 1946, Wagner has received his medical care at Milwaukee VA. 

“I’ve been there hundreds of times over the years,” he said. “If I have a headache, a toothache, I go right to VA.”

Wagner plans to stay in the rink for years to come.

“At my age, every day is a gift,” Wagner said. “But I’m shooting for 100.”