Tim Wong

Never met Tim but had several emails with him over the last 2 years. Tim always had empty bottles available for me, for my home brewing. Big shock when I heard he was hurt, bigger shock now that he is gone... I wish his family, friends and others close to him the best.

I knew Tim during his 30 year stint in State Service. He was an excellent writer and thinker and contributor to our Union Newsletter, the "Insider". He contributed, especially, in the area of healthcare and insurance. Although he was always a high performer in the workplace, little and petty folks with whom he worked took umbrage at his idiosyncrasies, like being a late riser and not wearing shoes. Nevertheless, he was a one of a kind and a good fella to sit down with and down a pale ale or two. We're gonna miss you Brother. You left us too soon. Bill Franks

Tim, we were just talking about you recently. Thanks for all your efforts to make Madison a bike city. We gave 'em heck. I'll never forget how you said, "You look like a west side soccer mom, but you open your mouth and something completely different comes out." We'll keep up the fight. Your old buddy, "Peek A Boo Bang." :)

My sincere condolences to Melanie and to Tim's sons, Shawn and Evan. Thank you for all the support you gave Tim in his valiant struggle. Since I appear to be one of the first to write, let me add a bit more about Tim and his family. I first learned of Tim in the fall of 1963 when his older brother, Paul Luebke Jr., and I met at Valparaiso University. Tim, he told me, was with their parents, Paul Sr and Eunice, in Iran, where his father was based with the Division of Overseas Schools of the U.S. Department of State. His father's job was to assist and certify elementary and secondary schools in the region for other overseas American kids like Tim. I seem to recall that Tim, with a gift for languages, learned quite a bit of Farsi in a short amount of time. Before Paul Jr. and I graduated from Valparaiso, Tim had entered Carleton. It was the 60s, and it soon became clear that Tim was as involved in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War fights of the time as his older brother was. Both he and Paul never stopped working for peace and justice--social, economic, and environmental. They spent their whole lives in the struggle. That was clear when Paul arranged for the three of us to take a trip to Montreal in 1999 and spend a few days catching up. It was still clear when I last saw Tim, in mid-October of last year. He and Melanie made an arduous journey by train (Tim didn't much believe in planes either) down here to Durham, NC. Their purpose was to visit Paul Jr. in the last few weeks of his battle and eventual reluctant surrender to lymphoma. After Paul Jr.'s death, his son Theo joined Tim in caring for Paul Sr., who lives on contentedly in assisted living here in Durham. Tim worked hard and well these past five years since the death of his mother, Eunice, to look after his father's finances and living arrangements. That was a part of his life that perhaps only Melanie and a few of his friends know about. Rest in peace, Tim. Your work in the community and the family is done but will always be remembered and appreciated.

I offer my condolences to Tim's sons though I only knew Shawn as an infant in his father's arms. Tim and I go way back, having worked together on the "underground newspaper," Free For All, back in '74-'75. We spent many pleasurable hours drinking beer at Bob and Gene's tavern on University Ave. in Madison and hanging out at Tim's pad on Bassett St. as well as the ever-changing "party after bar time," the only party anarchist Tim owed any allegiance. His Free For All feature, "Wong Truth Conspiracy," always the highlight of every issue, demonstrated his rapier wit and made an irrefutable case that a radical politics without humor was a futile exercise, indeed. I abandoned Tim's uncompromising politics long ago – teaching middle school in the inner city requires a patience that is much aided by pragmatism – but I'll always look back on my time with Tim fondly, forever appreciating the strength and magnetism of his personality. After being incommunicado for over twenty years, Tim and I struck up an e-mail correspondence in 2011, and I'm sorry that his intention to visit me in San Francisco never came to be. He was my friend and will be always.

Tim was easily one of the most unique people I've ever met. The kind of person that makes life interesting and special. He dared to be different, to march by the beat of his own drum. I honestly don't know all the contributions that Tim made to both Madison and the world at large, but I imagine they were far greater than he gets credit for. He was a man with ideals and a man that showed up. The world needs good people to take the time and energy to fight for what they believe in, no matter how inconvenient that may be -- and living your ideals is often quite inconvenient. I don't think it would be a stretch to call Tim a radical, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a radical more peace-oriented than him, and those are just the kind of radicals that we need to keep the balance of life. It's precisely because of people like Tim that most of us can rest happily in the middle. Whether you knew him personally or not, and whether you agreed with his views or not, Tim was an important member of the Madison community. I will miss Tim, and I don't think Madison will be the same without him. The stretch of road between Willy St. and North Shore will forever be in my mind as John No-Lane.