Kurt Kiefer, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend, and public servant, died peacefully on July 27 in Madison, Wisconsin, surrounded by his family. He was 65.

Kurt was the world’s largest optimist. His optimism was not naïveté, but a practice grounded in his belief that the world could be better and that thoughtful, determined people could help make it so. He was hopeful, curious, intellectually engaged, and guided by his unwavering character and integrity. Each year, he went to see A Christmas Carol, a tradition that reflected the values by which he lived: family, generosity, kindness, and the enduring possibility that people can change for the better.

At the center of Kurt’s life was Jone, his first kiss in seventh grade, his best friend in high school, and his wife of more than 45 years. Kurt loved to tell Abby and Oliver that they were “the product of a great romance.” Their marriage was exactly that: a long and affectionate partnership filled with books, travel, hiking, Packer games, Door County summers, and the family they were immensely proud to have built together.

Kurt was, quite simply, the best father in the world. He cooked family dinner nearly every night and asked everyone at the table to say what they were thankful for each night. He did Abby’s hair before preschool, sat beside the goal box at every one of her soccer games, and continued coaching her through career questions until the week he died. He called her his “joy,” fittingly, since Abigail means “a father’s joy.” He was also enormously proud of Oliver, especially of his service in the Navy, and traveled to visit Oliver wherever that service took him, from Hawaii to Sicily, at sea aboard the USS Makin Island, and finally to San Diego. Kurt welcomed Abby’s husband, Kurt, and Oliver’s wife, Amanda, wholeheartedly into the family and took immense pride in their lives.

During the last eight years, his grandchildren, Cora, Simone, and Weston, were the center of his universe and the greatest peak of joy in his life. He made pancake breakfasts, carved pumpkins, played at playgrounds, shared books, and indulged them with countless pictures of tigers and crocodiles on his phone. Holidays found Kurt’s family together whenever and wherever possible: Easter and Halloween in San Diego, Christmas in Idaho, and the Fourth of July in Door County.

Beyond his family, Kurt built a distinguished career in public education and public service. After beginning his career at Wisconsin Power & Light, Kurt returned to his calling in public service with the Madison Metropolitan School District, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, where he retired as Assistant State Superintendent for Libraries and Technology and Wisconsin’s State Librarian. Through his work, he helped expand access to technology, libraries, and broadband across Wisconsin, particularly in rural communities. His leadership was both practical and visionary, always rooted in a simple question: who would be helped by this work?

A proud product of the University of Wisconsin System and graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, Kurt remained deeply engaged in civic life throughout retirement. He served on boards and with organizations including the Council of Chief State School Officers, Toft Point, and the Baileys Harbor Community Association. In 2024, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame.

Outside of work and family, Kurt’s greatest passion was reading. He avidly devoured fiction, preferably with a happy ending, and especially loved discovering authors through their first novels. Every holiday, he chose books for each family member and inscribed each one with a personal note inside the front cover. Close behind books came the Green Bay Packers, which inspired such enthusiastic shouting and swearing that he jokingly called it his “one vice.” He also found great pleasure in sailing, biking, hiking, dark and local beer, and Saturday breakfasts at Mickey’s Dairy Bar.

Kurt and his family are eternally grateful to Dr. Noelle LoConte and her team at the UW Health Carbone Cancer Center for their tireless efforts to support Kurt throughout the past 14 months.

Kurt is survived by his wife and great love, Jone; his children, Abby and Oliver; their spouses, Kurt and Amanda “Mandi”; his grandchildren, Cora, Simone, and Weston; and the granddogs, Bucky, Bascom, and RB. He is also survived by his father Ronald, his sisters Karin James and Kaye (Kenny) Babel, his sisters-in-law Jane (Bob) Klozotsky and Sylvia (Doug) Ferdon, brother-in-law John Moody, and beloved aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

His family was his greatest joy, and he was ours.

Celebrations of Kurt’s life will be held in Madison on Sunday, August 2nd at 1:30pm at 109 E Wilson St, and in Baileys Harbor on Tuesday, August 4th at 1:30p.m. at Harbor Fish Market & Grill. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Kurt’s memory to the Madison Public Schools Foundation or The Ridges Sanctuary Memorial Contribution in Baileys Harbor.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services

3610 Speedway Rd      Madison

608-238-3434