Wayland "Mop" Baron, 92, Pulaski, passed away Thursday morning, November 16, 2023, following a brief illness. The son of Aloysius and Agnes (Buddle) Baron was born June 19, 1931, in Hurley where he was a 1949 graduate of Hurley High School. Mop was a starting member of the Hurley Midgets Basketball team when they won the WIAA State Boys Basketball Championship in 1949 and was the leading scorer in the tournament. It was a time when there were no size divisions in the tourney; Hurley competed against the largest schools in the state.

Following graduation, Mop served in the US Army and was a veteran of the Korean War. After his honorable discharge, he came back to Wisconsin where he earned a Bachelors Degree at Northland College in Ashland, and then his Masters Degree at Creighton University in Nebraska.

On February 12, 1954, he married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Foster, at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior. In 1959, the couple moved to Pulaski when Mop took a position teaching Social Studies at Pulaski High School. He also served as a Guidance Counselor at the high school for many years, until retiring in 1992. Mop was the head boys baseball coach at PHS and also served as an assistant boys basketball coach. He was a champion for the underdog; he always helped to make sure the kids in the community got any help they might need. That care also extended to his many contributions to Boys Town in Nebraska.

A man of strong faith, Mop was a longtime member of Assumption B.V.M. Parish in Pulaski. He loved his family, was a good provider, and a not-so-good mechanic. He enjoyed his cottage on Pine Lake in Oma Township. He loved the outdoors, fishing and hunting, and especially enjoyed partridge hunting with his brother, Leon, and with his friends both up north and from Pulaski. He also loved to bow hunt and, actually, got a buck seven years in a row with a Fred Bear Re-Curve Bow with open sights.

Mop stayed active after retirement. He enjoyed playing cards, especially cribbage, having a "few" cups of coffee with his buddies, and playing Yahtzee and yard games – always competitively – no mercy!

Survivors include his children: Monica Winter (special friend, Keith DeVos), Cheryl (Rod) Radecki, David (Michelle) Baron, and Scott (Kaylan) Baron; eight grandchildren: Brett Radecki (special friend, Carly Rosenberg), Lucas Baron, Alex Watermolen, Samantha (Matt) Wright, Brooke (Cassandra) Baron, Bailey Baron, and Cody (special friend, Amber Dreier) and Branden (Kaitlyn) Doucette; two great grandchildren: Rowan and Harper; several nieces and nephews, other relatives and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy, on April 15, 2022; his parents, Aloysius and Agnes Baron; a son-in-law, Dave Winter; his brothers: Leon Baron and Donald (Jean) Baron; and Nancy's family: her parents, Warren and Mildred Foster; his sisters-in-law: Peggy Alvey and Pat (Dick) Meyers; and brother-in-law, George (Barbara) Foster.

Friends are invited to gather with the family at Assumption B.V.M. Church, 119 E. Pulaski St., Pulaski, from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, December 2 ^nd . The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m., Abbot Dane Radecki, O.Praem. presiding, followed by military honors by the Pulaski Area Veterans. Burial will take place in the parish cemetery at a later date.

The family respectfully requests no flowers, please. Any sympathy gifts will be shared with causes that were important to Mop.

Online Condolences may be expressed at www.marnochafuneralhome.com or on the Marnocha Funeral Home Facebook page.