9-17-13 funeral services set for fdl soldier

Funeral services are set  for an Army soldier from Fond du Lac who died in a  tragic drowning incident  in New Mexico over the weekend.   Visitation for 21 year old Rob VandeZande Junior will be held starting at 2pm next Monday at the Uecker Witt funeral home in Fond du Lac and funeral services will be held at 11am  next Tuesday at Grace Christian Church…on County Highway K…across the road from Holy Family Church.  A memorial service will be held  at the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas where VandeZande was stationed sometime after the funeral.   VandeZande drowned in

Elephant Butte Lake Saturday night.  His father Rob VandeZande says the New Mexico State Police Department Dive Team recovered the body about 15-20 feet from shore.  "Something startled him.  We don't know what it was.  He was thrashing around, he went under, his army buddies did what they do they tried to save my son,"  VandeZande told AM 1170 WFDL's Between the Line program.  "They dove down for him repeatedly, the lake was zero visibility, his buddies couldn't find him."  VandeZande says his son enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after graduating from Fond du lac High School in 2011.  "He knew what he wanted to do in life and that was be in the army.  He was a fiber optics-telephone line repairman...a high stress communications job."    VandeZande says his son was an accomplished self-taught musician and a remarkable young man.  "He loved life, he loved the army, he loved his wife, his daughter,"  VandeZande said.  VandeZande says his son's wife is expecting another child in November.    VandeZande Sr. is a former Fond du lac city councilmember. The body will arrive back in Fond du lac Thursday and a processional will be held from South Main Street to the funeral home for the public to pay their respects.    Meanwhile, a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the VandeZande family is scheduled for October 6^th from 8am to noon at the Fond du lac American Legion.