That trip entailed paddling from Portage down the Mississippi River, through the Gulf of Mexico, up the East Coast and back to Portage through the New York canal system and the Great Lakes. He also had a long-held and long-planned epic kayak journey in mind. He moved back to Wisconsin around 2009, partly to have a larger part in the lives of his four nephews and one niece. After that he pursued a career in the building trades, punctuated with stints as a kayak instructor in Florida and southern California. When he was a young man, he canoed the entire length of the Wisconsin River, and it sparked a passion for paddling that never left him.Īfter he graduated from Wausau East High School, he went to Northcentral Technical College and earned associate's degrees in business management and residential design. 'Hunting was like a religion,' Haug said. He found his place outside, in the woods and on lakes and rivers. He told Haug that he never felt he fit in at school even though most of his family found their professions in the education field. Stachovak started working as a carpenter/builder with family members when he was 12 years old. He always went his own way, never one to conform to society's norms or expectations. He didn't like school and struggled as a student himself, yet became a teacher without a teaching degree. He was a mellow, laid-back guy who worked hard and embraced outdoor adventures that required discipline and a grinding resilience. He again opted for aggressive treatment, but the disease did not respond to intensive chemotherapy. 'We thought, great, this is the way it's supposed to go.'īut the cancer reappeared in June, this time on Stachovak's liver. He received chemo and radiation therapies that squelched the disease, said his wife, Marit Haug, and by February 2021 doctors could find no trace of the cancer. The disease was first found in his prostate in March 2020, and Stachovak underwent intensive treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. 19 in his Wausau home from complications of cancer, with his wife lying by his side and his family surrounding him. 9 at Wausau East High School to honor the life of a technical education teacher who once kayaked from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico and back. WAUSAU - Students, friends and family will gather Jan.

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