Rex Andrew Wagner

MADISON - Rex A. Wagner, age 51, of Madison, passed away on Saturday, July 5, 2025. He was born in Ottawa, Ill., the son of Craig and Patricia (Kennel) Wagner.

Rex received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was working as the Operations Director for HSX - Helically Symmetric Experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He had 20+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, automotive, and nuclear industries.

Rex was an amazing person. He was always giving and generous to others. He would always go out of his way to help others, from working with Free Bikes for Kids and coaching high school mountain biking with NICA, to checking on all of his numerous friends and coworkers, to ensure their needs were all met. Rex tended to put others ahead of himself, always finding a way to say "yes" rather than being overly critical.

Rex woke up every morning thinking that everyone else has amazing potential. He imbued that potential onto others. He raced motorcycles in the supermotard class for almost a decade with AHRMA.  He "raced" bicycles as much as he could, though this was more for fun and less for competition. His bicycle forays included as a sponsored rider with Mad Hatter cycling, again mostly just for long fun days in the saddle during Belgian Waffle Rides around the country.

Rex's love of two wheels was well known. He got quite a few people, who had long ago abandoned bicycles be it due to accidents or lack of interest, back onto two wheels. He didn't argue or push or cajole. He just found fun things to do, fun places to ride, and he went there.  Inevitably others joined these rides.  Rex insisted on riding year-round, putting in as many miles on two wheels as he could. The winter miles were rarely easy, and Rex was known for being tough and hard to stop.

Rex was always quick to laugh, even though his serious demeanor often hid his humor behind a playful scowl. One of the reasons that Rex enjoyed bikes so much is that it gave him one more reason to play. Rex loved to play with anyone and everyone, especially his many nieces, nephews, and family friends.

Rex loved to write.  He practiced using his own strong voice to convey the stories he wanted to tell. Rex also loved to fix things. His upbringing taught him not to be afraid of new things, that no matter how badly something was broken, it could always be improved. He loved words and vocabulary, which goes along with his love of writing.  He used the most fitting words that he could. Other folks might insist on calling Rex smart, but that was one compliment he demurred from. He believed everyone is smart and can achieve just as much with a bit of effort.

Rex was quick to jump on adventures, traveling around the country to explore for rocks, new terrain, or new places to ride.  He loved to travel, making many trips around the country with his wife, Sarah, and their herd of pets.  One memorable trip took them from a work trip to North Carolina up to a motorcycle race in New Jersey for the weekend. One friend commented that he'd never seen a cat in a pit stop before, though that's what Rex and Sarah brought, along with two dogs for the race weekend.

Rex was known for his bad dad jokes too, not being shy about dropping any bad pun he could think of.  Rex and Sarah assembled a Little Free Library in front of their house, focusing on making it usable for the kids first. He took a lot of pride in keeping the library stocked with good books and bad jokes.

Rex is survived by his wife, Sarah; father, Craig; brothers, Kurt Wagner (Tanya), Scott Wagner (Cathy), Roy Wagner and Brian (Nicole) Wagner; sister, Tena (Adam) Kincaid; and several nieces, nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Patricia Wagner.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the organizations Rex enjoyed donating his time to: Bikes for Kids Wisconsin bikesforkidswi.org, NICA High School Mountain Biking nationalmtb.org and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County bbbsmadison.org.

Rex Wagner Celebration Ride - Saturday July 19, 2025

Rex thrived when he was in-motion, preferably on two wheels. We plan to celebrate his life with a casual bike ride around Lake Monona in Madison, starting and ending at the Olbrich Biergarten.  In tune with Rex's love of bluegrass, a band (from the Sugar Maple Music Festival) will be playing at the Biergarten that evening.  

The memorial celebration will be hosted at the Pavilion across the street from the Biergarten.  Additional parking is available at the Pavilion as well. The "Lake Loop" is a mostly flat 13-mile ride around residential streets and bike paths that affords opportunities to tell stories, laugh and remember Rex.  Motorcyclists are welcome to loop as well but you'll have to avoid the bike paths.  We'll finish at the Olbrich Biergarten and adjacent Pavilion shelter to carry on the remembrance.  

You are welcome to skip the loop of course and just meet everyone after the ride.

·Collect at Olbrich Biergarten at 2:15 pm

·Ride start at 2:30 pm

·Ride finish at Olbrich Biergarten: about 4:00 pm

·Food, drinks and memorial at the Pavilion shelter across the street (near the Olbrich Park Playground)

·Live Bluegrass band at Biergarten: 5:30 to 7:30 pm

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The Pavilion shelter is reserved from 4:00 to 10:00 pm.  Parking at the Biergarten, Pavilion and side streets (see map).  The address for the Biergarten is 3527 Atwood Ave., Madison, WI.  

We look forward to celebrating the life of our dear friend Rex with you.

Lake Loop: https://discovermonona.com/lake-loop-map/

Thank you to everyone for all the support and time given to be with Rex while he fought cancer.

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

Gunderson East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive
(608) 221-5420