William "Bill" Lizdas

William "Bill" Lizdas

October 19, 1949 - July 12, 2024

Send Flowers

Obituary

MADISON - William “Bill” Lizdas, age 74, of Madison, passed away on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Inglehaven Assisted Living in Mount Horeb, Wis. He was born on Oct. 19, 1949, at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Racine, Wis., and was the firstborn of Alphonse “Al” and Margaret Lizdas.


Bill graduated from Washington Park High School, where he met his future wife and mother of his children, Sheila Petersen. His love of photography began in his teens. While his siblings all took music lessons, Bill preferred a camera, and his parents built him a darkroom in their basement. Bill went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater where he studied journalism, eventually leading to a distinguished career as a newspaper photographer.


His career in photojournalism started at the Racine Journal Times and took him across the state to various newspapers including the La Crosse Tribune, Green Bay Press Gazette, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bill captured images that told stories of what it was like to be human and took great pride in approaching his work carefully and in deliberate manner, without being flashy or sensational. He was admired by his peers for his talented visual storytelling, quiet and kind mannerisms, and his dedication to the craft.


For those wishing to honor him, we suggest you do something Bill-like today:

Smile at everyone you see, but also make some goofy faces at a few kids.

Go to a farmers’ market and make friends with the farmers.

Listen to some live music.

Dress up for the sake of style. Maybe consider a jaunty beret and a tweed vest.

Volunteer or help out in a way that makes the world a better place for others.

Take a picture with thought and intention and share it with others.

Go for a bike ride.

Pay attention to people who you think might be overlooked.

Do a little something for peace and justice.


Bill is remembered by his son, Ben Lizdas, for his love of literature, especially poetry; and his daughter-in-law, Christine Tanzer for ready smiles and his “oh-geez;” by his daughter, Sarah (Bodhi) Lizdas for his creative view of the world through photography and his smile project; by his grandchildren, Nya Lizdas for his scratchy wool hugs, and Esmé Lizdas, for shared afternoon teas and early morning walks; and his ex-wife and friend, Sheila Lizdas for never a dull moment since 1965. Additionally, he is survived by his brother, Dan (Marsha) Lizdas (the other “naughty Lizdas boy”); and his sisters, Jane (Dave) Paulson and Laura (Bill) Evans. He was preceded in death by his parents, Al and Margaret Lizdas.


Bill was laid to rest in a meadow at Natural Path Sanctuary in Verona, Wis., in a small family ceremony. A larger gathering is scheduled at THE FRIENDS SHELTER AT BLUE MOUNDS STATE PARK, 4350 Mounds Park Road, Blue Mounds, Wis., for what would have been his 75th birthday, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, from 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m.


In lieu of flowers we would encourage you to purchase a state park pass and go on a long walk. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.


Gunderson Camacho Mount Horeb

Funeral & Cremation Care

500 N. Eighth St.

(608) 437-5077




Events

19
Celebration of Life
Sat Oct 19, 2024 @ 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM CDT
Blue Mound State Park - Friends Shelter • 4350 Mounds Park Road, Blue Mounds, WI 53517
Get Directions

Photos

Add photos
of William
Memorial wall photo

Memories

Add a memory of
William
SH
Shari & Conn Huffaker
Other •
We loved to attend Gallery Nights, Art shows & concerts with this dear, gentle soul! We'll miss his humble insight & sweet smile. 💔 Shari & Conn Huffaker
JE
John Ehlers
Other •
Sincere condolences. I will miss Bill, his friendship, his humor, and his “Writer’s Almanac” posts. Bill left us on the 207th birthday of one of his favorite authors, Henry David Thoreau. There’s something strangely appropriate in that. I think he and Thoreau would have been good friends. Here is what Bill posted eight years ago on that day: “From today's (12jul16) Writer's Almanac: It's the birthday of American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, tax resister, and transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, born in Concord, Massachusetts (1817). After graduating from Harvard, he worked in his father's pencil factory. He taught for a time, but resigned because he didn't want to administer corporal punishment. He opened a school with his brother, John, but John caught tetanus after cutting himself shaving and died in Thoreau's arms. He went to work for Ralph Waldo Emerson, the poet and leader of the American transcendentalist movement. Thoreau moved into Emerson's house and tutored his children. After he accidentally burned down 300 acres of woods near Concord, his friend Ellery Channing told him: "Go out upon that, build yourself a hut, and there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive. I see no other alternative, no other hope for you." On July 4, 1845, Thoreau entered the woods at Walden Pond near Concord, built a small cabin, and spent two years, two months, and two days listening to whip-poor-wills singing, frogs croaking, and owls hooting. He cultivated beans, ate fish, salt pork, and woodchuck, and spent considerable time pondering which pond was more beautiful: Walden Pond, Flint's Pond, or White Pond. He always left three chairs ready for visitors. It was a grand experiment: to see if simple self-sufficiency could lead to a greater, more objective understanding of society. It took almost nine years for Thoreau to complete his book on his experience in the woods. He titled the book Walden; or, A Life in the Woods (1854). The book became the foundation for the future movements of ecology and environmentalism. Thoreau developed a penchant for yoga and Hinduism. He contracted tuberculosis, which set his health back, and after spending a rainy evening counting tree rings on a stump, he developed bronchitis and never recovered. On his deathbed, his Aunt Louise asked if he had made his peace with God. Thoreau replied, "I did not know we had ever quarreled." In Walden, Thoreau writes: "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan- like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."” RIP, Bill.
SP
Sally Pla
Other •
I am so sorry to hear the news. I'm an old UU friend of Bill's. Sarah, we never met, but when I was moving house in 2010, Bill bought my little red kayak, to give it to you as a present. Through the years I've enjoying thinking about you maybe still paddling through the waterways in it. We shared a birthday, so I always think about him on Oct 19. That won't change. Love and peace.

Share memorial