Willard Warzyn

MADISON- Willard Warzyn, prominent Madison consulting engineer in the late 1940’s to 1980’s, died on Sept. 19, 2013, at Oakwood Village (East). He was born on June 5, 1918, in Milwaukee County to Arthur and Cora (Kleinmann) Warzyn, and attended grade school and high school at South Milwaukee, where he graduated in 1936. Willard was active in music and sports in high school, playing on the championship football, basketball and track teams of 1934, 1935, and 1936. He played violin and French horn in high school, and French horn in the University of Wisconsin Concert band, 1938-1942. Willard graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a degree in Civil Engineering, and married the former Jeanne Carroll on the same day, June 1, 1942. He was employed by the Dravo Corporation and Rust Engineering Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., doing design and construction of wartime industrial plants and power generating structures. He worked eight years for Mead & Hunt, Inc. of Madison as design engineer and chief structural engineer for industrial buildings, hydroelectric generating plants and highway bridges. In 1955, Willard established Warzyn Engineering, Inc., with a specialty in Soil Engineering (an emerging new field of civil engineering design). He was responsible for the soil borings, foundation design recommendations, and structural design for buildings of the University of Wisconsin System, public school buildings, hospitals and industrial buildings in Madison and the surrounding area, as well as for numerous bridges on the Wisconsin Interstate Highway System and the Milwaukee Expressway System. In 1960, he also provided the soil borings and analysis of the underlying soil conditions and made the recommendations for the foundation design and construction of the Monona Terrace Convention Center which was ultimately built in 1997. In 1971, Willard volunteered for two months of service to the United Church of Christ Board for World Ministries, in Tarsus, Turkey, to analyze the structural adequacy for remodeling of a 3-story classroom building built in 1909, on the Mission campus. Willard was active in his professional organizations for more than 30 years where he held numerous committee assignments and offices, culminating in the Presidency of the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was honored for his services with the award of “Engineer of the Year” by the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers in 1973. As a practicing consulting engineer, he was presented a citation for “Distinguished Service To The Engineering Profession” by the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering in 1973. He was honored by the Wisconsin State Journal and the First Wisconsin National Bank of Madison in March of 1972, as the “Know Your Madisonian”. He served on the Northland College Board of Trustees at Ashland for 18 years, the Methodist Hospital Board of Directors for nine years, and has been a member of the Madison Rotary Club since 1955. In 2009, he was awarded the “Club Service Award”. After he retired, because of his pioneering of the newly emerging field of soil engineering, he wrote the HISTORY OF WARZYN ENGINEERING 1955-1977, describing its organization and the projects undertaken over the years. Copies are available in the U.W. Engineering Library, City of Madison library system, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Willard was a charter member (1948) of the Lake Edge United Church of Christ. He sang in the choir, was a Sunday school teacher, church moderator, and was the Chairman of many committees for the planning and construction of buildings required to accommodate the continued growth of the Sunday School and Church membership during the early years. Since his retirement he has played in community and church handbell choirs. He also pursued his hobby of vegetable gardening and woodworking. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; three daughters, Carol (Loren) Berge of Albuquerque, NM, Judy Thorpe of Madison, Janet (Bill Kruse) Warzyn of Berkeley, Calif.; three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren . He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, a sister, and a son-in-law, Charles Thorpe. The family would like to extend a special thank you to all the staff at Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge (East) Health and Rehabilitation Center for their wonderful care of Willard. A memorial service will be held at LAKE EDGE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, 4200 Buckeye Rd., Madison, at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. until the time of service at the church on Sunday. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Warzyn-Thorpe Music Scholarship Fund established at the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the U.W. School of Music or Agrace HospiceCare, Inc. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive (608)221-5420