Category: Obituaries

Betty J. (Blaul) McCutchin, age 88, of Madison, passed peacefully Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008. Betty worked as a nurse at the University Hospital in Madison.

Beverly M. Kosinski, age 67 of Oregon, passed away at her home on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Bev was one of the first parking attendants for the University of Wisconsin, and later became supervisor of parking and transportation. She retired in 1998 from the University after 28 years of service.

Russell H. Johnson, age 90, of Portage, died on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. Russ worked for UW Physical Department, retiring in 1981.

Bonnie Provart Ortiz, age 68, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008. She spent more than 30 years in academics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Penn State University.

Gordon “Gordie” Francis Mathias Littel has died at the age of 79. Gordie worked as a sheet metal worker, painter and custodian for the UW-Madison.

William A. Nathenson was the University of Wisconsin’s top Badger in Chicago, a two-time president of the local alumni club and an enthusiastic recruiter for the school’s football team.

An attorney who had a solo practice in the Loop for nearly 50 years, Mr. Nathenson, 96, died Friday, Nov. 21, in his Gold Coast apartment, said his nephew Lawrence Kosowsky. He had been suffering from several ailments, Kosowsky said.

Beatrice Elizabeth Donaldson David, age, 96, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008. In 1952, she joined the faculty of the foods and nutrition department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Bea retired in 1978 as professor emeritus in the Department of Food Science.

John Nieman Stephenson, age 71, died at home on Nov. 24, 2008. In 1972, John moved to Madison and founded the Teenage and Young Adult Clinic, department of pediatrics, UW Medical School, where he served as medical director until his retirement in 1999.

Ian C. Loram, of Pasadena, Calif., born on Feb. 26, 1917, in Durban, South Africa, died Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, in Los Angeles, at age 91. Professor Emeritus Loram taught German at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1964 until 1979; he was also an associate dean of the Graduate School.

Norton John Urness, age 82, died on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. After farming for almost thirty years, Norton held jobs with Patron’s Mercantile Co-op and the University of Wisconsin Experimental Farms until retirement.

Dr. David Archbald died Oct. 27, 2008, with his family at his side. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., he earned a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, and served for many years as director of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.

Lt. Colonel William P. Adams, United States Army Retired, died on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. William was an ad hoc instructor for 14 years for the Extension Division of the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Social Work.

John Harold Juhl, M.D., age 94, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008. John taught radiology at the University of Wisconsin from 1949 until 1952, and again from 1954 until 1980. He served as Radiology Department Chairman for 10 years, and during his chairmanship he established the Medical Physics Department, which was the first of its kind in the country.

Imogene Weyer Smith Higbie, age 90, of Providence, R.I., died at the Miriam Hospital on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. A retired professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she became in recent years, an agent for change in care for the aging.

James Patrick Lennon, age 61, passed away Nov. 20, 2008, at his home. He worked for the University of Wisconsin from 1977 to 1992.

Dr. David Frederick “Fritz” Ruf, M.D., age 73, of Darlington, passed away in his home on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. For many years he was actively involved with the University of Wisconsin to recruit physicians for medically underserved areas and served as a preceptor for UW physician assistant students.

Roberta “Bobbi” A. Marcus passed away on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008. After raising her children, Bobbi embarked upon a long career as a senior administrative assistant at UW-Madison, first in the Department of Economics and then in the Law School.

Charles Henry Davidson, age 88, died Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Charlie was director of the Engineering Computing Laboratory at UW-Madison from 1962 to 1982, and taught computer courses until his retirement in 1990.

George A Talbot III, Madison, born April 2, 1929, died peacefully Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Early in his career, George taught at the University of Wisconsin Law School; he later directed the visual and sound archives at the Wisconsin Historical Society, 1973 to retirement, 1990. He significantly expanded the society’s collection and created two major exhibitions, “At Home,” using photos to show how Americans led their lives, and “Six Generations Here,” portraying a German-American Wisconsin farm family. After retirement, he was on the Board of Friends of the Wisconsin Historical Society and directed the Frank Lloyd Wright oral history project (1990-95).

Robert W. Devenish, age 87, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008. Bob served the UW as director of communications for 18 years, until retiring in 1985. During that time, he founded and was an active member of A.C.U.T.A. (Assn. of College and University Telecommunication Administrators).

Michael Torphy spent a good deal of his past ten years of retirement at the family cottage in Crystal Lake, Minn., with his wife of 51 years, Maureen. Their two daughters, Laura and Karen, live in Chicago and Arcata, Calif. He was a good swimmer, loved the water and earned two letters while on the UW-Madison crew team in the 1950s.

Former Dane County Circuit Court Judge Michael B. Torphy, regarded as one of the state’s finest trial judges when he retired in 1998, died Thursday in a Madison hospice center.

Torphy, 78, presided over numerous murder cases in his 30 years on the bench, including a stretch in the 1970s and 1980s when more than 20 consecutive homicide cases filed in Dane County were assigned to him.

(Torphy was a 1957 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.)

Ronald passed away at home with his family on Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. Born in Blair but raised and educated in the state of Oregon, Ronald returned to Wisconsin in 1967 for a long career at UW-Madison as a professor of art education before retiring in 1995.

James R. Nestingen passed away on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008, at the age of 80. Jim worked for the Department of Independent Studies at the University, editing correspondence courses for the University Extension with a particular interest in math and engineering subjects.

Geraldine Lucille Hinkel, age 95, died on Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. Geraldine spent most of her life in service to the University of Wisconsin, starting at the Dean of Women’s office. Later she spent several years in the economics department and then went on to become secretary to Dean Edwin Young, of the College of Letters and Science. From there she followed Dr. Young when he became chancellor of the Madison University Campus. She again followed him when he became president of the University of Wisconsin System, and then retired from that position.

Everett D. Rockhill, age 78, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Everett had been employed by UW-Madison.

Elizabeth B. Stern, age 60 of Madison, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, Nov. 10, 2008. Since 2000, Liz worked at the Wisconsin Alumni Association in the International Relations and Travel Program.

Fr. James A. Egan, S.J. died Oct. 2, 2008, in Omaha, Nebraska at 73 years old. From 1972 to 1978 Jim was campus minister at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Jeanne Boydston died on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008. At the time of her death, Jeanne was the Robinson-Edwards Professor of American History in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Patricia Lu Reithmeyer, age 67, died peacefully in her home in Monona on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. Pat worked until her retirement as a payroll and benefits specialist for UW Hospitals and Clinics.

Alice Martha (Kaiser) Thaden passed away on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008, at the age of 85. One of her many jobs was working as a cook for the UW Sorority and Fraternity Houses.

John P. “Pete” Beck, age 66, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. Pete worked as an accountant for University Hospital and UW-Madison.

William Butler Stonebraker, age 87, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. At one point in his life, he worked for the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department.

Dorothy R. Gaukel, age 95, passed away peacefully on Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. After retiring from the federal government Dorothy was employed as a secretary by the University of Wisconsin, College of Engineering.

James B. Nolden, age 78, died after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and cancer on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, at UW Hospital in Madison. James worked for UW Student Health for 33 1/2 years.

Margaret Ames Myers, age 87, of Madison, passed away on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008. Margaret worked for many years in the UW-Madison General Library System prior to her retirement.

Clarence C. King, age 90, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, died on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, in Madison. Mr. King was employed by the University of Wisconsin for more than 38 years and retired in 1986 as an Officer and Director of Pre-Audit for the University of Wisconsin System.

Martin Hanson, a prominent Wisconsin conservationist who helped preserve the pristine Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, has died. He was 81.

Gov. Jim Doyle called Hanson “one of Wisconsin’s greatest conservationists.” Doyle commended his work to preserve the Apostle Islands and his donation of hundreds of acres of pristine northern Wisconsin land to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for research.

Gary K. Anderson, age 54, passed away very unexpectedly from natural causes on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. He was employed with UW Hospital and Clinics for several years in the pharmacy department.

Lana Mae Turner, age 67, passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. After graduating with honors from Madison East High, Lana worked at the University of Wisconsin Education Department.

Annettie Marie Montgomery, age 64, of Portage, passed away on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. Among other jobs, Annettie worked as a unit clerk for the General Clinical Research Clinic and as a receptionist scheduler in the Pain Clinic at UW Hospital.

Raymond A. Kubista died of heart failure on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008.  After World War II, Ray found a job with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation on the UW campus. The institute eventually became the privately funded Covance Research Inc., and Ray was the head of its Food Microbiology Department by the time he retired in 1986.

Carol M. Cowan, age 78, passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008, at the HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg. Carol was employed for 26 years with Wisconsin Public Radio-WHA. She was a recipient of the Peabody Award and mentored many students in broadcasting.

An assistant dean in UW-Madison’s College of Engineering who worked on diversity programming died unexpectedly Monday, according to a news release from the university. Steven Clark was 44.

Clark came to the College of Engineering in 2006 from the University of Miami-Florida where he was director of the Department of Multicultural Student Affairs. At UW-Madison, he developed and implemented a recruitment and retention model for underrepresented students, the news release said.

Phyllis Amelia Legler Conrad passed away on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, in Vancouver, Washington at the age of 99. She worked as a nurse at the University of Wisconsin Hospital beginning in the 1930s.

Robert “Bob” Alan Bonebrake, husband, father, grandfather, friend and physician, age 70, died on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. During his career he was also a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin.

Jean Mary Helf Snyder, age 90, passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008. Among other jobs, Jean worked as a pastry cook for Chadbourne Hall at UW-Madison.

Respected Madison photographer Bob Rashid died last Thursday, October 9. In 1994, Isthmus contributor George Vukelich devoted one of his â??Listening Inâ? columns to Rashid on the occasion of his “Rustic Roads of Wisconsin” photo exhibition at Olbrich Gardens.

Crediting his wife, the artist Holly Cohn, for helping him to view and compose subjects with a painter’s eye, Rashid provides insight into the challenges and rewards of untertaking such an ambitious project, explains his preference for morning light and notes the beauty awaiting those who follow back roads instead of major highways.

Photographer Bob Rashid, best known for his book “Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads,” died suddenly Thursday when his aorta was torn. He was 59.

Rashid did a lot of work for University of Wisconsin publications, and recently for the UW’s School of Nursing. He was one of the photographers at Deer Park near Oregon whenever the Dalai Lama came to visit and he also took photographs on medical missions, going to Kazakhstan twice in 10 years.

John Allen Sandin III, age 40, died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008, at his home. In January 2004, John started working as a Clinical Instructor/Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Department of Neurosurgery.

Professor Lorin Arthur Uffenbeck, Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Wisconsin – Madison died in his Chicago home on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008. He received his undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and served first as associate professor (1965-1969), and then professor of French and Italian until his retirement in 1994.

Elizabeth “Betty” J. Blied, age 85, died on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008. Betty had worked most of her career at the UW-Madison in various administrative positions.

Arnold Miller of Tucson, formerly of Madison, passed away peacefully on Aug. 22, 2008, due to complications from a routine medical procedure. A memorial service in Arnold’s honor will be held at the FRENCH HOUSE, 633 N. Frances Street, Madison, WI 53706 on Friday, Oct. 3, 2008, at 4 p.m.

RoseMary L. Niesen, age 83, of Dane/ Windsor died on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. Her employment history included the State of Wisconsin Hygiene Lab and St. Benedict’s Center.

WINDSOR – Ruth A. Manke, age 53, passed away of natural causes on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008, at her home in Windsor. She worked for the UW Athletic Department ticket office from February 1986 to September 2003.

Kay A. Ewers, age 62, passed away Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008, in Madison. She was employed by UW-Madison for 38 years, most recently the last 17 years in the Division of Information Technology (DoIT).

Two or three times a year, Calvin L. Beale would leave his desk in Washington, D.C., and travel to the University of Wisconsin to speak to graduate students. Glenn Fuguitt, a professor of rural sociology at the university, knew that Beale had spent decades studying the population trends of rural regions for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and that no one alive had a deeper understanding of his subject.

Evelyn M. Deneen, age 89, passed away on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008. She worked for the Highway Commission, the Wisconsin State Historical Society, and the UW-School of Pharmacy before retiring in 1983.

Jane Cavert Mitchell died Friday, Sept. 19, 2008. She worked for many years in the admissions office at the UW-Madison’s Graduate School.