Raymond "Ray" Antoniewicz

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OREGON - Raymond J. “Ray” Antoniewicz, age 87, of Oregon, passed away on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. He was born on August 2, 1937, in Antigo, the son of Anton and Helen (Schmoll) Antoniewicz. He met his wife, Alice Pedracine through mutual friends and horse owners, Jeff and Sally Faust of Fitchburg, and were united in marriage on June 26, 1966, in Madison.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Ray couldn’t be around horses much. But every summer, as soon as school was out, he was off to his grandparents’ farm in Antigo. It was on his Grandpa’s farm where Ray had his first experience with horses. In the 1960s, Ray earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science from UW-Madison, where he went on to spend more than three decades as the UW-Extension Horse Specialist, retiring in 1998.

He is known as the “Father of the 4-H Horse Project”, having organized the first State 4-H Horse Show in 1969 and established the Wisconsin 4-H Horse Association in 1971. He greatly expanded the 4-H Horse Project’s curriculum, encouraging youth to meld their personal interests with the care of horses, and organized riding expeditions to Wyoming for teens. In many ways, Ray was the father of 4-H in Wisconsin.

The Antoniewicz family farm (A-Z Farm) became an ag-tourist destination for many years, showing families that their food doesn’t originate at the grocery store. He and Alice developed a program where families and children could come out and see what a real farm was like, introducing horse and sheep agriculture to the local community.

And, of course, there was the establishment of the Wisconsin Horse Council. Ray was a founding member of both the Council - and the Midwest Horse Fair. This three-day annual expo ballooned from a few hundred attendees in the beginning, to tens of thousands in recent years. The Wisconsin Horse Council honored Ray with its first-ever Honorary Lifetime Member award for its 50th anniversary in 2022. A horse statue on the Oregon Historical Society museum’s lawn has been dubbed “Professor Raymond” in his honor.

When not working with horses and mentoring young people, Ray could be found growing produce in his garden for his family and the local food pantry, volunteering by delivering Meals-on-Wheels and in his shop working on many wood working projects.

Ray was also a faithful member of Holy Mother of Consolation Catholic Church where he was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council #13480. He also served on the Town of Dunn preservation board. He was most proud of his work training horses and developing young people. He put it best by saying, “it’s been a life that I really enjoyed.”

Raymond will be missed by many friends and family including his wife, Alice; children, Todd, Troy (Mary), Sara (Dustin Palenshus), and Tony (Lisa); grandchildren, Amber, Mikala, Brienna, Emily, Ayden, Kevin, Brock, Luca, Jaylyn and Steven; great-grandchildren, Matthew and Eleanor; and brothers, John and Dan. He was preceded in death by his parents.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at HOLY MOTHER OF CONSOLATION CATHOLIC CHURCH, 651 N. Main St., Oregon, at 11 a.m. on Friday, January 31, 2025, with Fr. David Wanish presiding. Visitation will be held at GUNDERSON OREGON FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 1150 Park St., Oregon, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 30, 2025, and also at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the Mass on Friday.

Memorials may be made to the Wisconsin Horse Council Equine Foundation (https://wisconsinhorsecouncil.org/wshcef), Oregon FFA Chapter, or Holy Mother of Consolation Catholic Church.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Oregon
Funeral & Cremation Care
1150 Park Street
(608) 835-3515