Richard Vedvig

Richard Vedvig passed away peacefully at home on March 24, 2025, from a heart condition. He was surrounded by his loving family. Richard was born in Stoughton on May 1, 1936 to Matt and Syneva Vedvig. He graduated from Stoughton High School in 1954.

He lived on multiple family farms, starting on the farm on his father’s side of the family in Edgerton. In 1964, he moved to the farm on his mom’s side of the family in Utica where Rich and Marilyn made numerous improvements to the farm, including a milking parlor, addition onto the barn, new house, silo, machine shed, and shop - all while milking cows, building their herd, raising crops, and a family. His kids cherished the lessons only farm life can teach, and these stories resonated deeply as a reminder of the strong values instilled in them. The resilience, strong sense of responsibility and unwavering dedication to hard work became a foundation that was also passed on to Rich’s grandkids. Rich also carried on the legacy of raising tobacco, which was a major part of his life starting as child until he was 70 years old, when he had to quit due to health reasons.

When he wasn’t farming, he had a love of being on the water. He loved boating and fishing and ultimately bought a cottage on Lake Wisconsin where he lived with his wife Sue until they built a home on the family farm. He enjoyed time on the lake and his kids and grandkids have many fond memories of tubing, skiing, knee boarding, clam hunting, swimming, and launching water balloons at each other up at the cottage. He also loved snowmobiling and was the president of the Utica Trailblazers Snowmobile club for many years, making strong friendships with the area farmers that also shared love for fun on the trails.

Back on the farm, he always had a knack for fixing what broke (and things broke a LOT). He was very mechanically inclined and always saw something breaking as a challenge for him to figure out a creative way to fix it. His kids learned from their dad and attributed their vast vocabulary of swear words to the frequency in which things would break on the farm.

Throughout his life, he had a fondness for dogs. For as long as his family can remember, he always had a dog sidekick, frequently riding shotgun with him on his golf cart.

He was an avid hunter his whole life and had a particular fondness for turkey and deer hunting. He had such a love of hunting, that in 1992, he converted his shop into the infamous “Possum Lodge,” known throughout Utica. The Possum Lodge featured multiple outdoor neon lights (that could be seen from Washington Road), a talking mounted deer head (proudly acquired at a Rock River Thresheree auction), and members donned personalized blaze orange Possum Lodge hats. Rich’s proudest hunting memories include both a trophy deer and an unbelievable double turkey haul. In 2006, he bagged a monster buck on the family farm that he had “been waiting 70 years for.” In 2012, he was turkey hunting in the same blind as his son Dan. Two turkeys came within shooting range, and they quietly counted down and shot both birds at the same exact time. It was a proud moment for both father and son and made for a great story (and picture).

Later in life, he and Sue had a fondness for traveling and camping. They loved spending Summers in Alaska and winters in the southwest or in Florida. They loved sightseeing, driving their camper up through Canada to Alaska and down to Florida.

Rich loved Alaska so much that in 2012, he planned and arranged a big family trip up to Alaska with his kids, spouses and grandkids. 17 Vedvigs made the trek up to Alaska and spent the week exploring Rich’s favorite spots, as they RV’d through the state. It was a bucket list trip that his family will never forget and never would have been possible if it wasn’t for Rich.

Richard is survived by his wife Sue, brother-in-law Mike, children Jeff (Sue), Dan, Lisa (Ted), his nieces Vicki (Ken), and Misty, his grandchildren Roxanne (Scott), Alie (Alex), Hillary (Case), Hanna (Josh), Ashley (Adam), Erica (Dave), and Andrew, and his great-grandchildren Colby, Joey, Louie, Sam, Sully, Henry, Roland, and one due in April.

He is preceded in death by his parents Matt and Syneva, brother Eugene (Betty), sister Pat, daughter-in-law Renee, nephew Rick, and nephew-in-law Doug.

A visitation will be held at Cress Funeral Home in Stoughton on Sunday, April 6 from 11am to 1pm. A Celebration of Life will be held at Coachman’s Golf Resort on Saturday, May 10 from 2pm to 6pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Rich’s name to a scholarship created by the family for the Stoughton Future Farmers of America, checks made out to Lisa Keehn, memo “Rich Vedvig FFA Scholarship,” or to the Dane County Humane Society. 

The tobacco is hung, the hay is in the barn, the cows are milked, and the trails are groomed - your work here on earth is done. No more sweat or worry for you now. We love you!