William A. Manke

William ""Bill"" Allen Manke, age 67, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 12^th at his home in Madison WI after celebrating a final goodbye party the day before with friends and family at his favorite Lake Michigan beach in Racine WI. Bill was a kind, generous and wise teacher whose light has been shared with thousands over the years. He was born on February 26^th, 1941, in Racine WI, the only child of Albert & Myrtle (Peterson) Manke. His family (including his grandmother Peterson and uncle Floyd) impressed upon him at an early age the value of education and a love for exploration and curiosity. He often shared stories of his youth with a sense of gratitude. He graduated from Racine Horlick High School in 1959. On August 18^th, 1963 he was united in marriage with his High school sweet heart Mary Jo Peterson of Racine. They moved to Madison for Mary Jo to begin her teaching career and Bill to continue his studies at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison. Bill graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1966. He immediately landed a contract with the Madison Metropolitan School District to begin teaching Biology at Lincoln Middle School. Bill was recognized for his desire and ability to connect with even the most difficult students. Many of the staff there remained his life long friends. When Lincoln school closed, Bill transitioned his career to West High School where he was hired as a Chemistry teacher. At West, he thrived due to the various opportunities available to him. At one point, when the Madison graduation requirements changed from one year of science to two, Bill realized that many kids would have difficulty meeting these criteria. He rose to the challenge by creating an Applied Science curriculum. This allowed students to participate in the development of their studies based on their own individual interests. It was a great success. Throughout his teaching career Bill taught all of the different High School science courses -- Earth Science, Applied Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. He also helped fill in vacancies throughout other Madison High Schools. Later on in his career at West High, Bill took over as coordinator of the audiovisual department, where his love for technology was extremely well utilized. (We would be remiss to not mention his love for nearly all things produced by Apple Computer.) Additionally, he helped with the Science Olympics team, taught in the traffic safety department, ran drop-in programs, headed social activities and guided the year book club -- all with much pride and enthusiasm. Bill also loved the outdoors and would often be found planting or digging. Even though he knew and loved most species, his favorite tree was the Ginkgo. Over 40+ years he had planted and given away hundreds of these trees throughout the country. It's rumored that he even tried to name one of his sons Ginkgo. Love for the outdoors also led to his long-time passion of photography, were he amassed a large portfolio of beautiful images -- wildlife being his favorite subject. Bill was baptized at Atonement Lutheran Church in Racine, and became a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church when he and Mary Jo moved to Madison. Bill has been active at Good Shepherd for 45 years often helping in the technology side of the ministry. Although he had many passions, his greatest love was for his family -- his wife Mary Jo, sons Rev. Christopher (Donna) of Wauwatosa, and Matthew of Boston; and his grandchildren Averie, Noah and Lilly. His expression of love, care and curiosity lives on in them. A memorial service for Bill Manke will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 5701 Raymond Road, Madison WI on Monday, August 18^th at 4:00pm. A visitation will precede the service at 2:30pm, and a celebration dinner will follow the service. The family suggests in lieu of flowers that memorials be given to The Leukemia Research Foundation, Madison West High School Science Department, or Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Bill's family would also like to extend a special thank you to the doctors and nurses of the Oncology/Hematology Department and ICU at UW Hospital who provided outstanding care and support to Bill over the past six months. Also, we extend our sincere gratitude to the Pastors of Good Shepherd and the many friends who visited and continued to pray for his health and recovery.