William Spevacek

MADISON - William J. "Bill" Spevacek, age 82, passed away on Friday July 21, 2017. He was born in Madison on Dec. 22, 1934, son of the late Alvin and Gertrude (May) Spevacek. Bill attended Blessed Sacrament Elementary School and Edgewood High School in Madison. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Journalism. He married Patricia Francisco in Cambridge in 1957. He and his family lived in Waukesha for 32 years before moving to the Mineral Point area in 1996. They moved to Madison in 2013. Bill served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps., newspaper reporter with the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune and public information officer for the Wisconsin State Patrol. He spent more than 30 years as a public relations counselor, most with the Barkin, Herman public relations firm in Milwaukee. He was active in the Public Relations Society of America, serving as president of its Wisconsin chapter in 1979, and on various regional and national committees. From 1995 until retiring in 1999, he was with the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
He was active with American Red Cross, and served on the board of the Greater Milwaukee chapter and various volunteer posts at the chapter and regional levels. He also served on the boards of the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Milwaukee and Lad Lake, Inc., Dousman. In retirement, he wrote and published two novels and a number of poems, and was active in the Democratic Party of Iowa County. Other interests included photography, the news, liberal causes, the Packers, the Badgers, the Brewers and the Madison Mallards; classical, jazz and blue grass music. More than anything else, he loved his wife, his children and grandchildren.
His wife of 58 years died in January of 2016. Their survivors include three children: Michael W. (Teresa) Spevacek of Madison, Scott E. (Nicoletta) Spevacek of Middleton, and Theresa S. (Joseph) Walsh of Madison; six grandchildren: Gregory (Christine Schneider, fiancée), Bethany, Nicholas and Alexia Spevacek and Christopher and Katherine Walsh; and brothers Robert Spevacek of Tempe, AZ., and David Spevacek of Falls Church, VA.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday August 5, 2017 at BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH, 2121 Rowley Ave. Madison. A visitation will be from 10:30 AM until the time of the Mass on Saturday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to go to the UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave. K4658, Madison, or to the donor's local chapter of the American Red Cross.

Cress
Funeral and Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road Madison
608-238-3434