William Chritton

Stoughton- William Emmet Chritton, Jr., 95, of Stoughton, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 28, 2015 surrounded by loving family.

Bill, or "Emmet" as he was known growing up, was born at home on April 12, 1919 in Stoughton to William E. Chritton, Sr. and Gertrude A. (Williamson) Chritton. Bill's family was loving but of humble means, and he recalled how he and his brothers went barefoot all summer so the family could save on shoes. When Bill was 17, his father was injured on the job at the local highway trailer factory, so Bill worked for a time in his father's place at the plant to keep food on the table for his family.

After graduating as high school class president and captain of the debate team, Bill's father took out a loan so Bill could attend the University of Wisconsin in 1937. About this time, Bill began to lose most of his hearing. Although this caused him to wear a bulky hearing aid until he had corrective surgery in 1958, Bill graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the UW with a degree in education, becoming a high school teacher in Lake Mills, Wisconsin and later in Marinette, Wisconsin.

One summer between his teaching jobs, Bill began attending the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he later would graduate in 1945 at the top of his class and editor of the law review. After practicing with a law firm in La Crosse, Bill returned to Stoughton in 1946 to form a law partnership, Thompson & Chritton, with local state politician, Carl Thompson. It was a humble beginning, as Bill recalled, with the two lawyers sharing a single desk.

Bill later went out on his own as a lawyer, practicing law continuously until age 92, when he finally began to turn away new business and wind down his practice. During that time, Bill also served as Stoughton City Attorney for 27 years and as a director of First National Bank of Stoughton for 31 years. Bill believed in giving his clients good service, helping those who needed it, and in carrying out his work thoroughly and with honesty. It was important to him as well to help the community, and with Bill's guidance several clients established substantial scholarship funds for students of local schools. "I loved practicing law in Stoughton," he said.

Bill met the former Laura Elizabeth Crump of Lake Mills after the two were introduced by Laura's younger sister, a student Bill taught at Lake Mills High School. Bill and Laura married in 1948, and the young couple settled down in Stoughton to start a family, where they raised four children. They were married for 63 years, until Laura passed away in 2011. "I had a good life," Bill said recently, "But I wouldn't have had a good life without Laura."

Bill always had a quick wit, and kidding and horseplay were staples of the Chritton family. Bill was also a man of many interests. He was a drummer in a band in his early years, and enjoyed listening to jazz, which was the sound of his youth in the 1930s, and in later years, opera. Bill took several botany courses at the UW and held a lifelong passion for growing tomatoes, squash and other vegetables in his garden. Bill loved airplanes, becoming hooked as a boy when he paid a barn storming biplane pilot a hard earned dollar to take him on a flight over the local countryside. He later got his own pilot's license in the 1950s, and owned and flew a single engine airplane with friends at Stoughton's small grass airfield.

Bill was fascinated with US history and loved traveling the United States by car, often taking his children to Civil War battle fields, Washington D.C. and other historical sites across the country. As he traveled, it was his hobby to visit local county court houses, sometimes stopping to listen to court hearings in progress, fascinated by the local accents and ways of doing things. Throughout his life, Bill followed politics closely and he voted in every election. He read several daily newspapers, and often kept a radio by his side at home tuned to his favorite news station. In later years, he was an avid watcher of C-SPAN.

Bill believed in exercise. For most of his life as a lawyer in Stoughton, he walked the one mile to his office - rain, shine or snow -- as well as walking home for lunch, plus taking an evening walk. Until a year before his death, he was still riding an exercise bike each day at home, while reading the New York Times, as well as doing sit ups.

Bill was a largely private man, and his family meant everything to him. In 1959, he and Laura bought a summer cottage on nearby Lake Kegonsa, the first order of business for which was to install indoor plumbing. The cottage became the focus of the Chritton family over the years, and in his last years Bill still enjoyed coming out to "the lake" to sit on the porch of the family cottage.

Bill is survived by his four children: Nancy (Russ) Hellickson, Bob (Nancy) Chritton, Ken (Pat) Chritton and Phil (Zhinong) Chritton; eight grandchildren: Elizabeth (Greg) Lucas, Mary (Keaton) Anderson, Karen (Jason) Bogenrife, John, Michael, Theodore, Monica and Thomas; and eight great-grandchildren: Brooke, Alexa, Blake, Brett, Owen, Emma, Landon and Callum. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Laura, and his brothers Marion "Charlie" Chritton, Lyle Chritton and Rodney Chritton.

Friends may join Bill's family at a visitation on Wednesday, April 1, from 11:00am to 1:00pm at Cress Funeral Home, 206 W. Prospect Avenue, Stoughton, with the funeral service beginning at Cress at 1:00pm. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorials to the Laura E. Chritton & William E. Chritton Scholarship Fund for students of Stoughton High School. Donations may be made to the Madison Community Foundation, 2 Science Court, Madison, Wisconsin 53711 ("Laura E. Chritton & William E. Chritton Scholarship Fund" should be included in the memo line of checks).

The family would like to thank Douglas Kutz, M.D., the staff of Skaalen Home and the staff of Agrace Hospice for their care and compassion.

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Cress Funeral Service
206 W. Prospect Street
Stoughton, WI 53589
(608) 873-9244