William Frederick Fey

Madison - ""Dr. Will"", (William Frederick) Fey passed away on October 13, 2009, in the company of his immediate family and loving Hospice team in Madison Wisconsin. He was 87. His original obituary may be found at the Cress Funeral Home website. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 28, from 7-9pm at the FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY, 900 University Bay Drive in Madison Wisconsin. We look forward to seeing many old friends, colleagues and extended family. Written or spoken stories and remembrances are all welcome, as time allows. Please join us, to celebrate a life filled with love, listening and laughter.

""Dr. Will"" Fey passed away on Tuesday morning, October 13, in the company of his immediate family and his loving Hospice care team, at the Don & Marilyn Anderson facility in Fitchburg, WI. He was 87.   Born on March 8, 1922, in Elyria Ohio, to Blossom and Milo Fey, Will was the youngest of three boys. The depression confined the family entertainment to their local golf course, Cherry Ridge, where Will caddied and, by his teens had become a regional champion. He followed his brothers to college at Miami University in Oxford and, in 1943 enlisted in the army. To his everlasting surprise, he was selected for pilot's training and 5 months later he was flying a B25 across the Atlantic ocean toward a deployment in Corsica. He flew 63 successful bombing missions over Italy from this base and returned to college a surreal 13 months later, to complete his undergraduate degree.   Will came to the University of Wisconsin in 1945 to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, where he met and fell for a fellow graduate student who offered to tutor him in statistics. He and Florence Elizabeth Tobey (Betty) married in 1949 and bought a modest bungalow outside of Verona in a four acre woods. Here they cultivated a huge garden, planted dozens of white pines and started a family. Three kids later they sawed off the bungalow roof and raised it to add a full second floor. When the local school system failed to challenge their children, they moved into Madison and bought an old 150 acre farm near Dodgeville to fill the country void. The Farm' quickly became the center of family life and celebrations. There were few weekends spent elsewhere for the next 20 years. Will wrote a journal entry for every one of the days spent at the farm, in his beautiful, calligraphic hand, documenting our projects, the weather, the food and often, our conversations and laughter.   Will was the first PhD ever hired by the Department of Psychiatry in the UW Medical School. His intuitive clinical skills earned him a primary role in managing the psychiatry residents and he became the face and the heart of that program for many years. As a clinician, anecdotal evidence suggests that he saved many lives and   marriages, strengthened families and helped many clients become better friends to themselves. He was deeply admired, respected and loved as a clinician, teacher and colleague. Although he took only a handful of sick days in his 35-year tenure, he took every Wednesday afternoon off, to go to the farm with Betty. This unprecedented, unconventional and admirable practice became legendary among his peers.   Will was a wonderful father, husband and friend. He was quick to smile and laugh. He taught his children that everyone they met would have something to teach them. He encouraged us to be ourselves and to take personal risks. He loved rough weather, he built beautiful things from solid oak, he learned to make good dry wines, he taught himself to sail and cultivated a deep knowledge of and appreciation for classical music and literature. Right up to the final days of his life, he had a twinkle in his eye and a smile that made you glad you'd walked through the door. Our Hospice team coordinator commented that when any of the staff was having a bad day, they'd go spend time with Dr. Will' and inevitably emerge in a better mood. He was a person who made you feel good about yourself. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.   Will is survived by his wife (of 60 years) Betty, his children: Nan Fey (and her husband Bill Cronon and their children Hilary and Jeremy), Susan Fey (and her partner Leslie Mueller) and David Fey (and his partner Michael Putman). A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 28, at 7:00pm at the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive in Madison Wisconsin.   If you wish to make a memorial donation in Will's memory, we know he would be pleased to support The Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare facility- 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI 53711, The Aldo Leopold Foundation Inc.- P.O. Box 77 Baraboo, WI 53913-0077 or PFLAG Madison-4221 Venetian Ln., Madison, WI 53718-6655.