Arthur Christian Stratman

April 04, 1925 – May 11, 2021

Arthur was born April 04, 1925 in Evansville, IN, 1st child of Victor and Pauline Stratman. Arthur spent his 1st six years living on north Oak Hill Rd near the old one room school house at Oak Hill and Lynch Rd.

His father Vic taught Arthur hunting and life skills even as a young child. At three, Arthur shot his 1st squirrel with a .22 rifle resting on his Dad’s shoulder. As a six year old he cut the grass at their Oak Hill residence with a rotary push mower.

At six, as the Stratman family grew in size, he moved with his parents to a small farm near St Wendel. Soon Art had two brothers, Melvin and Donnie, and three sisters, Pat, Lois Jean and (a few years later) Judi.

At eight, Art got a part time job opening the old school house at the corner of St Wendel and Buente Rd. He would open the building, fire up the coal furnace and sweep up before school opened each day. He liked to tell stories about picking black berries which he would then sell … picking berries all day with a 10‐gallon pale tied to his waist.

Art nurtured a close relationship with his siblings, especially his sisters. He built the winning Soap Box Derby car that his brother Donnie coasted to victory in the 1936 Evansville Soap Box Derby. As a teenager, he would enlist his sisters to brush and press his clothes and help him spruce up for his dates.

Art loved to dance. He met Bonnie Hammel in 1947 at a dance. Art and Bonnie married in January 1949 to begin life together in a rental house next door to his parents. In 1952 Bonnie and Art moved into a house he built on three acres bought from his parents. Art lived in this house on St Wendel Rd until just a few years ago.

Dancing was a life long passion for both Bonnie and Art. They went dancing

several times a month. Bonnie and Art had many friends for dancing and card parties. Clabber was the card game of choice.

July 1951 brought Bonnie and Art their 1st child, Bruce, followed by Cathy (1953), Denny (1956) and Sherry (1959). Art was a responsible and caring father to all. The almost weekly Clabber games usually included a couple kids sitting at the table, watching the card play and enjoying the “company” of Bonnie and Art’s friends.

Family was important to both Art and Bonnie. They gathered frequently with aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and cousins. Art and Bonnie were well liked by all.

Arthur worked primarily as a factory worker until he retired (Heilman Brewery) in 1981. Art was well liked by his fellow workers. In the early 60’s Arthur bought 80 acres of land near his house and became a part time farmer in addition to his factory work. Art never made a lot of money but he and Bonnie were very frugal. He did his own butchering and helped (a little bit) Bonnie with a large garden. Art and Bonnie bought a 2nd farm of 102 acres near Blairsville in 1962. Art worked hard at both jobs with very little sleep. Bonnie, Vic, Bruce, Denny, Cathy, and Sherry all worked for Arthur on the farm … a true family operation. Art invested much of the farm earnings in the stock market and did quite well financially.

Art was the peace maker of the family. He always came forward to resolve emotional and sometimes unsavory family issues with a goal of healing. While sometimes a bit awkward in approach, he usually succeeded in tempering hard feelings.

Art had a life long passion for squirrel hunting. While he also hunted rabbits and quail, squirrel hunting was his real passion. He was a very skilled shooter, seldom missing any game he aimed at. He went deer hunting for the 1st time in 1977 and bagged a 10‐point buck that year. He expanded his hunting trips to include fall deer hunting with Bruce and Denny until his early 80’s.

Arthur attended Armstrong grade school when it first opened. Since there were only two kids ready for the second grade, he was double promoted into the 3rd grade. Arthur attended Reitz High School for two years then transferred to North High School where he graduated, receiving automobile mechanic training. Art was an exceptional backyard mechanic. No task was beyond his skills. He maintained a personal fleet of cars, trucks, tractors, mowers and more. He repaired engines, drive trains, car bodies and transmissions. He was able to disassemble an automobile automatic transmission, identify the problem, repair and restore to working condition. At one point he “repaired” a v8 engine with a cracked block by removing four cylinders, reworking the carburetor and converting from 8 cylinders to 4. In the late 60’s he bought an electric welder, taught himself to weld and built a couple farm trailers and repaired farm implements. He sometimes said he wished he had become a math teacher but mechanics was his true area of expertise. Much like his father Vic, Art could do anything with his hands.

Bonnie, his wife of 50 years, died August 1999. Arthur rebounded from this loss to continue dancing regularly until age 93 with his long time friend Kay Harris and other friends.

Art was a life long member of St Paul’s UCC German Township. Art and Bonnie made sure their children regularly attended church and were grounded in a Christian life.

As Arthur’s physical condition and mental faculties declined, the family moved him into Wyndmoor Assisted living in 2019. Art endeared himself to the staff at Wyndmoor who provided wonderful compassionate care for him for the duration. The Wyndmoor staff always had time to make sure he had all the cookies he loved so much. He persevered at Wyndmoor for two plus years but never gave up hope of returning “home” for the life he prized. He was under the wonderful care of Heritage Hospice for his last seven months.

Arthur died peacefully in bed May 11, 2021. Arthur’s last words to the nursing aids in his room were “I’m going home.”

Arthur is preceded in death by:

wife of 50 years, Bonnie J Hammel

parents, Victor and Pauline Stratman

brothers, Donald and Melvin Stratman

sisters, Judi Tuley and Lois Jean Fritz

Survived by:

son, Bruce and Sarah Stratman of Evansville, IN

daughter, Cathy and Dr. John Buxton of Evansville, IN

son, Dennis and Pamela Stratman, of Evansville, IN

daughter, Sherry and Terry Tharp of Logansport, IN

sister, Patricia Freeman of Evansville, IN

brother‐in‐law, Steve Tuley of Tacoma, WA

brother-in-law, John and Shirley Hammel of Wichita, KS

grandchildren, Ryan, Tracy, Amber, Ashley, Pauline, Jamie, David, Nicholas, Alex, Allison, Erica, and Brian,

several great grandchildren

and many nieces and nephews.

Rest in Peace, Arthur.

Visitation will be held Friday from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Alexander Funeral Home North Chapel, 4200 Stringtown Road, and 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul UCC German Township Church, 8701 Big Cynthiana Road. Funeral Service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 15, 2021 at the church, officiated by Pastor Terry Farmer, with burial in St. Paul UCC German Township Cemetery.

Condolences may be offered at www.AlexanderNewburghChapel.com.