Category: Obituaries

Peter O. Steiner, University of Michigan Professor Emeritus of Economics, Dean Emeritus of the College Of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and Professor Emeritus of Law, died peacefully at home in Ann Arbor on Saturday, June 26, 2010, in his 88th year.

Steiner began his distinguished academic career as a professor of economics (and his equally distinguished avocation as a denizen of Thursday night poker games) first at the University of California-Berkeley (1949-1957), then at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1957-1968).

So Dwight Armstrong died last week. He was the loser who planted a jet fuel bomb at the University of Wisconsin back in 1970. It killed a young teacher named Robert Fasnacht, who had three kids.

Marsha L. Davis passed away peacefully, Thursday, June 24, 2010. Marsha was a teacher and educator in Dodgeville; Reedsburg; UW-Madison; Marion College, Fond du Lac; Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.; Nicolet H.S., Glendale; and Governor’s State College, Chicago, Ill.

Samuel Craighead (Craig) Alexander, M.D., of the Quadrangle, Haverford, Pa., died unexpectedly in Rockport, Maine June 23, 2010. He was chairman of the Anesthesia Departments at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, serving at the latter for 20 years.

Dr. Charles R. “Chuck” Stearns, renowned polar researcher, treasured friend and beloved father and brother, passed away unexpectedly, on Tuesday, June 22, 2010.

Harold E. Zwickey died following a short illness on Wednesday morning, June 23, 2010. He worked for the University of Wisconsin Extension Printing as an offset pressman until retiring in 1989.

Peggy Ann Gilbert Taggart of Whitewater, and formerly of Janesville, died Saturday, June 25, 2010. Peggy worked for the state of Wisconsin for 31 years, the last 28 for UW-Madison at DoIt (Division of Information Technology) as a computer programmer and analyst.

Almost 40 years ago, four men stole a van and turned it into a bomb that they set off outside the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Sterling Hall.

Richard Laverne Rakow, age 69, passed away at his home in Avoca following a heart attack on Monday, June 21, 2010. Richard worked in the maintenance department at University of Wisconsin-Madison for 38 years.

Owen Dixon “Dick” Coyle, age 82, died Saturday, June 19, 2010. Besides working as a reporter for The Capital Times, Dick taught classes at the University of Wisconsin in the journalism department.

Dwight Armstrong, one of four men who carried out a fatal bombing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to protest the Vietnam War, has died. He was 58. Armstrong, who spent years as one of the FBIâ??s most wanted fugitives after the 1970 blast, died Sunday at UW Hospital in Madison after battling lung cancer, hospital spokeswoman Susan Lampert Smith said. She said his family wanted the public to know he was a smoker because “they wouldnâ??t want anyone else to have to go through that.” Armstrong was a shaggy-haired high school dropout when he and his older brother, Karl, and two others parked a stolen van packed with 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and jet fuel next to Sterling Hall and lit the fuse on Aug. 24, 1970.

Dwight Armstrong, one of four men who carried out a fatal bombing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to protest the Vietnam War, has died. He was 58.

Dwight Armstrong Vietnam War Protester Dwight Armstrong, 58, one of four men who carried out a fatal bombing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to protest the Vietnam War, died June 21 at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. He had lung cancer.

Elaine Mae (Bartz) Brooks passed away peacefully on Monday, June 14, 2010. Elaine moved to Madison in 1940 and worked as an  assistant field representative at the University of Wisconsin Extension.

Joyce Esther Swoboda Wessley lost her five year battle with ovarian cancer on Friday, June 18, 2010. Her last position before retiring was with the University of Wisconsin Foundation, where she worked alongside Donna Shalala on various fund raising events.

Thomas “Tom” Sturlaugson, age 62, of Madison, died peacefully on Sunday, June 20, 2010. Tom worked for the UW as a sign writer until his stroke in 2005.

Brunette received a bachelor of arts from Duquesne University in 1965 and a masters from the same university in 1967. He received a Ph.D. in English and Film from the University of Wisconsin in 1975. He served as an instructor at the University of Maryland and George Mason University before joining Wake Forest in 2004.

Gordon E. Hurd, 68, a development official with a trade association and later for AARP, died May 17 of bladder cancer at his home in Arlington County. He moved with to Madison, Wis., in 1989 and began working for the University of Wisconsin Foundation in 1995.

Robert “Bob” Herrling, age 74, of Lake Delton, died Sunday, June 13, 2010. For more than 38 years Bob was a driver for the University of Wisconsin hospital transportation services in Madison.

Dr. Henry A. Peters Jr., who taught at the University of Wisconsin Medical School for 47 years in the departments of neurology, psychiatry and rehabilitation medicine, died on Saturday June 5.

Laurel Warnick “Laurie” Joiner, age 66, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on May 21, 2010. Laurie began her professional career as the assistant to the Associate Dean of Nursing at UW-Madison after her family moved to Madison in 1974.

Martin C. “Pete” Peterson, age 85, passed away on Thursday, June 10, 2010. Martin retired from the University Farms in 1987 after 44 years of service.

Dana Possin, of Oshkosh, died Wednesday, June 9, 2010. Dana worked for a time as an academic staff research specialist in the genetics lab of UW-Madison Dept. of Zoology.

Noted: Ms. Hinton was recruited for the Manhattan Project in February 1944 while still a graduate student in physics at the University of Wisconsin. At the secret laboratory at Los Alamos, N.M., where she worked with Enrico Fermi, she was assigned to a team that built two reactors for testing enriched uranium and plutonium.

Claude Adams Taylor Jr., age 79, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 6, 2010. He served as  professor of anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 30 years until retirement. While at the UW he helped initiate the local modern ambulance era as the program director of the Paramedic Program and trained the first 48 paramedics for the City of Madison.

Paul A. Leverentz, age 44, of Madison, died unexpectedly on Monday, June 7, 2010. He worked at University of Wisconsin-Madison as an accountant, CPA, CIA, CISA for the past two years.

June Gay Forsyth, age 95, died Saturday, June 5, 2010, at HospiceCare in Fitchburg. June worked for a short time as a secretary for the Agronomy and Engineering departments at the UW-Madison.

Clifford J. Lange, age 71, of Madison, passed away on Thursday, June 3, 2010, at St. Maryâ??s Hospital. Clifford was employed in the Maintenance Department of the University of Wisconsin for many years.

Elizabeth M. “Betty” Bablitch, of Madison, passed away on Sunday, May 30, 2010, at the age of 85. She was a retired employee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lisa R. Lehman, age 48, was taken to heaven on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Facility following a long battle with cancer. Lisa previously worked for the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the athletic department.

Rita Marie Warden, age 59, passed away on Saturday, May 29, 2010. Rita worked as an administrative assistant at UW-Madison.

Cloyd E. “Ernie” Zehner, age 96, died on Thursday, May 27, 2010, at Meriter Hospital in Madison. He worked as the chief herdsman for the University of Wisconsin Dairy Science Department in Madison for 40 years.

On Thursday, May 27, 2010, Judie lost her long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Judie worked for the University of Wisconsin Hospital in the Employee Health Department. She was in charge of the flu clinic for many years.

Marvin Raymond West, age 79, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Marv worked for UW-Madison Housing from 1972 until 1993.

Mae Nelson, age 92, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Mae was employed most of her adult life retiring from the University of Wisconsin, School of Engineering Placement Office in 1984.

Arnold N. “Arnie” Walton, age 79, passed away on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Arnie worked as a cheesemaker and later as an ice cream maker at Babcock Hall.

George R. Sell, age 93, passed away on Monday, May 17, 2010. He received his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and was a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1954-1982.

H. Jean Rowley passed away on April 22, 2010, and was buried on May 6, 2010. In 1990 Jean retired as chief of cataloging and emeritus assistant professor from the University’s General Library System.

Thaddeus L. “Ted” Jagelski, age 85, passed away on Thursday, May 20, 2010. Ted lectured at the University of Wisconsin from 1970-1989. He was a speaker at the University of Wisconsin Extension Recycling Seminars.

On Friday, May 21, 2010, Ellen L. Kennedy died. Ellen worked for more than 35 years at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in the Vascular/Sports Medicine Department.

Dr. Lois Kathryn Kitze Smithies died on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, at the age of 86. She served as director of virology at the State Laboratory of Hygiene and then as director of virology at the State Animal Health Laboratory (now Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Veterinary Sciences) until her retirement in 1984.

Walter Rudin, a preeminent mathematician who taught at UW-Madison for 32 years, died Thursday at the age of 89 after suffering from Parkinsonâ??s disease.

When news arrived that legendary hunter/conservationist Bud Jordahl died May 11 at age 83, I pushed back from the keyboard and flipped through old mail for the handful of notes and postcards he sent in recent years. No matter when they were written, words from Madisonâ??s Harold C. Jordahl hold their value like praise from your father. His notes reminded you hope isnâ??t a slogan and inspiration has few sources. Those powers spring from smart, courageous leaders who care.Jordahl was all that. He worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior; taught at the University of Wisconsin; and toiled for the Wisconsin Conservation Department and Department of Resource Development, forerunners to the Department of Natural Resources.

Robert Harza Burris, age 96, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. Professor Burris became a member of UW-Madison’s Department of Biochemistry following World War II. His research emphasis was in the area of biological nitrogen fixation. He was chairman of the Department of Biochemistry from 1958 to 1970, after which he returned to research.  When he retired in 1984, he was honored as the W.H. Peterson and Hilldale Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry. As an emeritus, he remained active in his field until the age of 90.

Ruby E. Hubbard, age 95, passed away on Thursday, May 13, 2010. Ruby was a longtime employee of the State of Wisconsin working at the University of Wisconsin as a telephone operator.

Harold C. “Bud” Jordahl Jr. died on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, in Madison, while being embraced by his family. Bud’s career led him to work closely with legislators, governors, senators and in President Kennedy’s and President Johnson’s administrations advocating on behalf of our natural world. He served on and was elected chair of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board. He capped his career as Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin and with UW-Extension.

Harold “Bud” Jordahl, who helped start Earth Day with Gaylord Nelson, has died at the age of 83. Jordahl, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, helped create organizations, such as the 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin and Gathering Waters Conservancy.

Jordahl, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, helped create organizations, such as the 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin and Gathering Waters Conservancy.

June D. Krueger, age 67, of Madison, a former Merrill resident, died Friday, May 7, 2010. June worked for the University of Wisconsin-Madison in administrative data processing.

Skott B. Vigil, age 33, died unexpectedly on Sunday, May 2, 2010. At the time of his passing, he was a fourth-year graduate student and Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Donald P. Voss was born to Eternal Life on Saturday, May 1, 2010, at the age of 76 years.Don was an outstanding collegiate athlete; voted All American Defensive End in 1952 and a UW-Madison Hall of Fame inductee in 2006.

Roy William Haller, age 77, of Washington Island and Madison, died on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at his home on Washington Island. Roy was employed by the University of Wisconsin School of Agricultural and Life Sciences as a professor and then assistant dean of student affairs, providing support and guidance to students, until his retirement in 1989.

Daniel D. Weltzin, age 60, passed away on Thursday, April 29, 2010. Dan worked for 20 years at UW Health as a courier and enjoyed his job.

Delphine Theresa “Del” Parker (nee Komassa), age 78, passed away on Sunday, April 25, 2010, with family by her side. Del worked as membership secretary at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union for three years and then spent the remainder of her work years at the UW Hospital and Clinics in the Department of Human Oncology, Radiation Oncology Division as administrative assistant to the division director, where she retired in January of 1997, after 29 years of service.

Emery Sylvester passed away peacefully five days after his 99th birthday. He worked for the University of Wisconsin physics department for 41 years.

Dennis Lynn Koepke, age 52, died April 15, 2010, after living for five years with non-Hodgkinâ??s lymphoma. Dennis worked as an economist for the UW-Extension.