Obituary of Jeffrey Michael Wernicke

Jeff Wernicke, age 53, of Las Vegas, died on April 19, 2019. Jeff was born in Blue Island, IL. He was a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines for 12 and a half years. He was based in Chicago for 6 years, then transferred to Las Vegas in 2014. Jeff was extremely well liked among his peers and took pride in providing memorable flying experiences for all his passengers. In his downtime, Jeff enjoyed travelling, entertaining, and relaxing at home with his husband and their two rescue Dachshunds, Chief and Johnny. He was an incredible husband to the love of his life Fernando and an amazing "doggy daddy." Jeff is survived by his husband, Fernando Gonzalez III of Las Vegas; his Mother, Sharon Pals of Fair Oaks, Indiana; his father, Brad (Gerry) Wernicke of Shereville, Indiana; his brother, Bradley (Cindy) Wernicke of Melrose Park, Illinois; his In-Laws, Gloria and Bill Stuckey of Orlando, FL and Maria and Fernando Gonzalez Jr. of Calumet City, Illinois; his siblings-in-law, Diana Marie Ward and Doug Ward of Monticello, Indiana; as well as nephews, James LaRusso and Miguel Farias Jr. and nieces, Alexandra Marie Ancil and Arianna Gloria Farias; and many cousins and loving friends. He is preceded in death by his stepfather, Don "Papa" Pals, his grandmothers Hilda Panozzo and Agnes Wernicke; his grandfather, John Wernicke. Friends will be received at Kraft-Sussman Funeral and Cremation Services on April 26, 2019 from 3:00PM until the time of service at 4:00PM, when a Life Celebration will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "It Gets Better" Project at https://itgetsbetter.org/donate/.