Man, 101, remembered for humor, giant rooster

MOSINEE -- Anyone who has traveled south from Rothschild on Business Highway 51 and made it to Mosinee has likely seen a large 10-foot rooster on the left side of the road.

The owner of this unofficial landmark, John Koskey, has died. He was 101.

Koskey loved spending time with people, telling jokes, playing cards and enjoying the outdoors.

He hunted until he was 100 years old, said Marcia Maciejewski, 68, one of Koskey's four daughters. He earned the nickname "One shot John" because he never missed.

"He always said, 'I ain't got time to die. I got too much to do,'" Maciejewski said.

Koskey also loved fishing, but he refused to spend money on minnows.

"He walked into a bait shop once with some guys from Chicago and said, 'How much for the dead ones?' The cashier said, 'The dead ones are free.' So John said, 'Kill a dozen for me,'" said Terry Baumann, Koskey's son-in-law.

The rooster, which brought many passers-by to Koskey's front door in hopes of a photo, was a gift from Koskey's son Myron who lived in Iowa at the time. Myron died 20 years ago.

"Myron brought it up on top of his car," Baumann said. "I guess he bought it at Col. Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) or something. John thought it was the greatest thing, and it's all I've heard about for the last 30 years."

Maciejewski said the rooster likely will find its way to Koskey's Landing, the family home on Big Eau Pleine. Koskey also is survived byone son, 23 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great-grandchildren.

Koskey had a theory for how he got to be 101.

"Smoke until you're 70. Chew tobacco until you're 90," Baumann said with a laugh. "He was always going into (nursing) homes and telling them his method for longevity, and it was always some sort of bull like that."

Koskey was buried Tuesday in St. Paul Cemetery in Mosinee.