William Albert

Madison-William Albert, age 80, passed away Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at Agrace Hospice. Bill was born on Monday, August 7, 1944 in Oakland, California.

At the age of 10, Bill’s family moved to Hartland, Wisconsin, where he became the first AFS (American Field Service) student within the Hartland/Arrowhead School District. He spent a summer in Finland, where he formed a lasting relationship with his host family. After graduation from Arrowhead High School, Bill enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He attended the UW until he decided to join the United States Navy where he learned Vietnamese and was a Vietnamese Linguist until being honorably discharged in 1968. Upon his discharge from the Navy, Bill returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to obtain his bachelor’s degree in 1970. He enjoyed academia and went on to earn two master’s degrees with one being in Anthropology.

In September of 1970, Bill married the love of his life, Jane Samuel. Bill and Jane grew roots in Madison, he taught classes at the UW and was a Building Inspector for the City of Madison for 20 years.

He became a member of a model train group which took him and Jane on trips to model train conventions and once they took the Amtrak from Chicago to California. They enjoyed traveling; cruises around the Baltic Sea, river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and an amazing trip to Alaska (to name a few). Bill enjoyed gardening, both flowers and vegetables. As a sports fan, he took pleasure in watching the Wisconsin Badgers and his daughter’s soccer games.

Bill is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jane; daughter Katy Jane Albert; granddaughter Kayla Jane Cleaveland; and siblings Peter (Sue) Albert, Tenney (Amy Wencel) Albert, and Grayson (Laura Castanos) Albert. He is further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Bill’s name may be made to AFS(https://afs.org/donate/), Agrace Hospice (www.agrace.org/donate/donate-today/), or Friends of the Arboretum (www.foamadison.org) .

The family would like to thank the staff at St. Mary’s Care Center and during the last few months of Bill’s life, to the wonderful staff at Agrace Hospice-Fitchburg.