Albert Martin Robert Lauersdorf

Albert M.R. (“Al”) Lauersdorf bid all of us a final farewell on Monday, August 19, 2024. He was 87 years old, and passed away peacefully in his own bed in Madison, Wisconsin, after a short battle with glioblastoma. Al’s family and friends are mourning the loss of a kind and generous soul, and a beloved husband, brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and uncle.

Al was born in Juneau, Wisconsin, on September 3, 1936, to Ferdinand and Edna (Heintz) Lauersdorf. He spent his teen years in Minnesota Junction (WI), home of Heine’s Famous Pizza, and graduated from Horicon High School. After high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps to serve his country, secure his future, and see the world. Al was a proud Korean War Veteran, and a lifetime member of VFW Post 1318. Al attended Wisconsin State College Oshkosh (UW-Oshkosh) on the G.I. Bill, where he tried his hand at acting, before starting a career and raising a family of his own. 

Al rose to the position of assistant vice-president with the Bank of Madison, before joining Governor Patrick Lucey’s team as a member of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. In 1979, Al and family moved to Elmhurst, Illinois, where Al began a 20-year career as Administrator of Highway Traffic Safety Programming for the National Safety Council. Advocating for life-saving safety standards was not only a career, but a lifelong passion for Al. He was very proud of the roles he played in passing legislation and developing programs to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities, as well as programs that led to the widespread acceptance and use of seatbelts and child safety seats in automobiles.

Whether at work or play, Al was a kind and gregarious people-person, who often tended bar on the side just for the camaraderie of it. He was quick-witted, quick with a shoulder to lean on, and always ready to share a laugh. Al relished the time he spent over the years tending bar, trading jokes, and swapping stories with friends and colleagues at local hotspots wherever he happened to be living at the time, including the Congress Bar, Paradise Lounge, Shamrock Bar, Minnick’s Top Hat, Stoughton Country Club, and two of his favorite hangouts, the Avenue Bar and Leske’s Supper Club, where he was affectionately known as “Dirty Al” for his sometimes ribald humor.

Al was a voracious reader and world-class puzzle solver (always in ink!), a casual fisherman, an accomplished bowler, a semi-regular at the harness races at Sportsman’s Park (before it was paved over), a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, and had so many other interests. He was also a friend to everyone he met regardless of station. No matter who you were, Al would take the time to stop and get to know you, coax a smile out of you, and leave you feeling better about the day ahead. He will not only be missed by family and close friends, but by the many cashiers, clerks, greeters, gas station attendants, gate agents, delivery drivers, civil servants, and hospitality industry employees across Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin who may not remember his name, but will remember Al as the guy who genuinely wanted to know the answer when he asked how they were doing. 

Al’s greatest and most fulfilling accomplishment is the family he cherished, encouraged, nurtured, and supported in every way throughout his almost 88-year journey. Al met his one true love, and his match in every sense, when he was introduced to Nancy Driewer in the winter of 1970. Al and “Nan” were married on October 23, 1971, in McFarland, Wisconsin, and Al spent his best years laughing, loving, and enjoying life together with Nan in McFarland, Stoughton, Elmhurst (Illinois), Oregon (Wisconsin), and Madison. After almost 53 years of marriage their love for one another continues on as strong as ever, and Al’s journey ended in the best possible way—while holding Nan’s hand close to his heart.

Al was stubbornly optimistic and good-natured, and never failed to see the good in people or the silver lining in every storm cloud. Like all of us, however, his journey was not without heartache or loss. Al was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Edwin, and his sister, Ruth Frederick. He also suffered the heartbreaking losses of two of his children, Wendy Jo DeGennaro and Timothy Lauersdorf, and his grandson, Christopher DeGennaro, all of whom he loved and adored with all of his heart.

In addition to Nan, his sisters Esther (Paul) Gertsch, Bernice (Joe) Planasch, and Lillian (Fred) Steger, and too many beloved uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws, and friends to mention by name, Al is survived by his children, Eric, Andrew (Janis Puracal), and Matthew (Ashley Petersen), his grandchildren Sam (Nicole) DeGennaro, Laura DeGennaro (Scott) Register, Amy Lauersdorf (Danny Herheim), Jacob Lauersdorf, Kyra Lauersdorf, Aidan Lauersdorf, and Olivia Bright (Tai Davis), and his great-grandchildren Dusty DeGennaro, Josie and Everett Register, and Charlee and Brooklyn Herheim.

If you were to ask his children, they would tell you that Al left them with many enduring lessons, like how to throw a curveball, the military wipe, or how to avoid a nasty poke when removing the hook from a bullhead’s mouth. Or, more importantly, that patience is a gift as well as a virtue, that kindness is its own reward, and that compassion and forgiveness are not always easy, but they are so much more powerful, and so much less exhausting, than anger, bitterness or vengeance. On the other hand, if you were to ask Al to share the ultimate wisdom gleaned from his journey through life, he would probably just say what he often said, and what he left us with when he passed: “Try not to worry too much. Everything has a way of working itself out in the end. Take care.” 

Funeral services and a celebration of the life of Albert M.R. “Al” Lauersdorf will be held on his 88th birthday, Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at Cress Funeral Home in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m., followed by a brief funeral service and shared remembrance at 11:00 a.m. All who knew Al are welcome to join our family in celebrating his life, sharing his jokes and stories, wishing him one last happy birthday, and saying goodbye. A luncheon reception will follow at the Stoughton VFW Post 328.

Al was a lifelong friend to animals, particularly dogs, and a proud supporter of the rescue and fostering services provided by Fetch Wisconsin Rescue. In addition, Al’s family is especially grateful for the compassionate end-of-life care and hospice services provided by Agrace at the end of Al’s journey. Memorials in celebration of Al’s life, and in lieu of gifts or flowers, may be made to Fetch Wisconsin Rescue or the Agrace Foundation. 

Please share your memories of Al by posting in his Guestbook.

Cress Funeral Services

206 W. Prospect Street, PO Box 231, Stoughton

(608) 873-9244