His dad died building the stadium. The Brewers gave him World Series tickets

Roland “RJ” Wischer and his wife Betsy told their two children they were going to Game 2 of the World Series, but it was different for them. 

They explained the Milwaukee Brewers making it this far was rare and they would be witnessing a historic Wisconsin sports moment.  

They also explained why the Brewers gave their family tickets for free. 

“I tell them, mostly, that we’re there because of their grandfather,” Wischer said. “Their grandpa gave his life building this stadium.”

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Their grandfather, Jeffrey Wischer, died in 1999 during construction of then-Miller Park, now American Family Field.  

Jeffrey Wischer died along with William DeGrave and Jerome Starr when a crane known as Big Blue collapsed while raising a piece of the stadium roof amid high winds.  

It’s among the darkest days in Brewers history, one that is immortalized with a statue of the three men in the shadow of the ballpark.  

Roland “RJ” Wischer said the Brewers have invited him and his family back to the ballpark multiple times to honor his father, alongside DeGrave and Starr.  He was at the inaugural game in 2000, he came back last year to remember the 25th anniversary of the tragedy and he’s been to other regular season games over the years.

But last week, Wischer said the ironworkers union reached out to him to see if he would be willing to talk to the Brewers. He agreed, and the team called and offered him four free tickets to Game 2 of the World Series at American Family Field, where the Brewers would face the Tampa Bay Rays.  

“The Brewers have been really good to me. Really, really good to me,” Wischer said. “I wasn’t really expecting it. It wasn’t the phone call that I was expecting.” 

Becoming an ironworker 

Growing up, Wischer spent a lot of time with his mom. His dad was often away working jobs on weekends and holidays.  

“There was a time in my life that I was frustrated over the fact that I didn’t get time with him and that I didn’t remember him,” he said. 

Wischer was about 8 years old when his dad died. He doesn’t have many memories of him, but remembers him as “stern but fair.”   

“He had his set ways that he liked things done,” Wischer said. “If there wasn’t the lines in the carpet from the vacuum when he got home, you clearly didn’t vacuum. He liked things a certain way. He was strict but he was a good dad.” 

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As he got older, Wischer joined a union working on HVAC systems but didn’t enjoy the work. He talked to one of his dad’s old friends about being an ironworker.  

“I didn’t realize it until I became an ironworker that when you are trying to provide as much as you can for your family, if there’s shutdown work over the weekend or on a holiday and you’re going to make time-and-a-half or double-time on those projects, you’re going to go on those projects and sacrifice the time with your family,” Wischer said. “And there’s also a lot of traveling jobs that I did as an ironworker that also gave me perspective.” 

He eventually became an ironworker and moved to the Fox Valley for work. But it’s during his time as an ironworker that he learned more about what happened to his dad on the day he died.  

“Everybody was saying ‘No. We’re not going to do this.’ Including (my dad),” Wischer said. “Because it was too windy. And they were getting threatened that if they didn’t do it, they were going to get run off the job. And at that point in time, everybody was very concerned about their job and their money, and this is a very big project.” 

That’s when Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave and Jerome Starr decided to go up themselves.  

“They were all in leadership roles… and those three were like ‘We’re going up there and we’re getting this piece secured before any of our guys go up there,'” Wischer said. “I have a lot of pride in the fact that knowing my dad plus those two other guys, they were heroes. They protected their guys.” 

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Being an ironworker, Wischer said he learned that typical protocol would have required more workers to be up in position to secure the piece. His dad was the raising gang foreman that day.  

“That would’ve caused a lot more fatalities and a lot more injuries because you would’ve had a lot of guys up there,” Wischer said.  

Normal protocol is to have the raising gang foreman on the ground, Wischer said, and the connectors would be in place.  

“My dad decided to go up because he wasn’t putting his guys at risk and he didn’t want his guys at risk of losing their jobs,” Wischer said. “He didn’t want them at risk of getting injured in any way. And he didn’t want them at risk of having to tell people that they weren’t comfortable going up there and doing it.” 

Going to the World Series 

Every time Wischer goes to American Family Field, he can’t help but think of his dad.

Wischer shared a moment with his family as they watched the Brewers stage yet another comeback win in Game 2 on Saturday, Oct. 24, rallying to win 5-4 and taking a 2-0 series lead.

“It was wild and amazing… it was one of the most fun events I’ve ever been to,” Wischer said. “The kids had a blast. At one point, for my daughter, we had to get a set of ear plugs from guest services because it was so loud.” 

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As he walked the stadium’s concourses, Wischer thoughts still turned to his dad. 

“I pointed out to my son ‘Look at how many bolts are in that connection,'” Wischer said.  

His son counted the bolts, 38 in all.  

“I’m grateful and I’m thankful for the entire experience, and I’m thankful that my family got to experience it,” Wischer said. “My father helped create this stadium… the biggest game in MLB is being played in the stadium my father helped create and that he gave his life for, it really is a full circle moment.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: His dad died building the stadium. The Brewers gave him World Series tickets