The Wisconsin Auctioneers Association “Gala” evening banquet at the annual WAA Convention included the presentation of the Wisconsin Auctioneers Hall-of-Fame 2017 inductee and the honors were given to Joseph Bunczak of Rosholt, WI. Joseph was honored by his fellow auctioneers and his extended family came in as a surprise to their father and good friend. Joseph is married to Elaine and they have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.
John Marg, the 2005 inductee to the WAA Hall of Fame noted during his presentation that Joseph had grown up on a small farm in northern Wisconsin and walked to school at a traditional one room school house. As a teenager, he would sometimes do his farm chores extra fast so he could make it to an auction later in the day. He attended Reisch American School of Auctioneering shortly after graduating from high school and worked as a contract auctioneer for a number of different local firms before starting his own auction and real estate company. He has sold thousands of auctions in Wisconsin and as far away as Missouri and also sales in Canada. In the early years, one firm he worked for would pay him $20 per day and a steak dinner if the auction did well.
This year’s nominee has donated his auction services to a number of charities over the years including local churches, fraternal organizations, and sportsman’s clubs. He is also an active volunteer for his local church and has served on township boards including the truly thankless job of board of review for real estate taxes.
Joseph has been in the auction business for over 50 years and has been a member of WAA for 30 years. His auction business sometimes includes 3 generations on sale day as his son, grandson and granddaughter will all work at some sales in addition to his wife. One of his proudest moments as a WAA member was winning the Senior Bid Calling contest several years ago.
Wisconsin Auctioneers Association is a non-profit trade association that exists for the purpose of promoting the growth and professionalism of the auction method of marketing and Auctioneering in the State of Wisconsin.
