File photo.
Remembering some of the notable people who died in 2024.
Rob Atwood
A hole was ripped into the peninsula’s music scene with the sudden death of Rob Atwood at just 53 years old on Aug. 15. Atwood was one of the county’s most relentless musicians, putting all of his voice into shows big and small all over the county for 25 years with The Probers, Kiss Me I’m Sick and Dirty Deuce.
David Aurelius
A potter who worked side-by-side with his wife Jeanne his entire life, David Aurelius was a key member of the generation who elevated the county’s art scene. Their influence lives on not just at their Clay Bay Pottery gallery, but also in schools and venues around the state where they installed community mosaics. He died July 22 at age 73 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Leann Despotes
In 2010, Leann Despotes became the founding president of the Baileys Harbor Historical Society, devoting her heart and soul to preserving and sharing the stories of her hometown until she died in August at age 78.
Dick Egan
The Door County Community Foundation would not be what it is today without the leadership and drive of Dick Egan, who believed it could be bigger – and make a greater impact – than it was when he joined the board nearly three decades ago. He was 85 when he died in November.
John Enigl
A chronicler of Door County’s rural life and personalities for the Door County Advocate for many years, John Enigl died in January at age 98. He left behind more than 900 stories and dozens of interview tapes with notable residents from the 1970s–1990s.
Miriam Erickson
Miriam Erickson was a teacher, a ski coach, an advocate for education, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. Above all, she was a leader, including her work as the unlikely force that helped put Door County schools at the forefront of the internet in the 1980s and 1990s. A Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame member and the 2010 Door County Community Foundation Philanthropist of the Year, Erickson died Sept. 24 at age 92.
Carol Gresko-Lyons
Internationally renowned fabric artist Carol Marie Gresko-Lyons (Bacigalupo) was a central figure in the local art scene with her husband Roger “Charlie” Lyons. Together they ran the Paint Box Gallery in north Ephraim. She was 81 when she died Jan. 31.
Pat Hockers
A man trusted and relied upon by local tradesmen, Pat Hockers built Hockers Excavating as a family business and was set to open Camp Door Campground in Liberty Grove next spring with his sons, Matt and Chris. He was 64 when he died of a heart attack in November.
Jeanne Hutchins
She was a shopkeeper, bartender and store owner, but Jeanne Hutchins found her true calling in her final quarter of life sharing the history of Washington Island as a docent at Jacobsen’s Museum. She died July 25 at age 91.
Pita Kotobalavu
Pita Kotobalavu’s band, Unity, exploded onto the stage at Fishstock in 2003 and local crowds soon made his shows the centerpiece of their entertainment calendar. Known for his dreadlocks and stage presence, he played until the cancer ravaging his body could be held at bay no more. He was just 55 when he died in January.
Barbara Larsen
The 2nd Poet Laureate of Door County, Barbara Larsen died in June at age 97. With her husband George, she worked tirelessly to support the building of the Door Community Auditorium and was recognized as a champion of the arts.
Margaret Loving
Perhaps the world’s most appropriately-named kindergarten teacher’s aide, Margaret Loving worked alongside close friend, Annette Erickson, for 29 years in the Gibraltar School District. Loving died at age 92 on Oct. 18.
Theodore Olson
Theodore “Ted” Olson, an influential conservative attorney who bucked orthodoxy to help legalize gay marriage, died Nov. 13 at age 84. Olson served as solicitor general to President George W. Bush and was his attorney in the Bush vs. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election. He argued 65 cases before the United States Supreme Court, but maintained a lifelong connection to Door County, where he was a generous supporter of Write On, Door County.
Spencer Milligan
Spencer Milligan, who played the dad in the 1970s television show “Land of the Lost,” and called Sturgeon Bay home, died April 18 at age 86. After moving to the city in 1991 he spent many years teaching actors and working with local theaters.
Howard Renard
Howard Renard first made cheese for the Fairland Cheese Factory as a teenager before founding Renard’s Cheese in 1961. The family business continues to thrive as one of the county’s hallmark brands today. He died at age 95 in September.
George Roenning
For 30 years George Roenning served as a trusted family physician at Door County Medical Center, delivering hundreds of babies and mentoring dozens of young doctors. He would serve as medical director of the Dorchester and Director of Patient Care at Door County Medical Center. He died at age 79 on Oct. 19.
Carol Sills
In Door County, Carol Sills was the director of the Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theater Game Center, teaching performers from all over the world for almost 40 years. For years prior, she was the balancing force for her mercurial husband Paul Sills, co-founder of the legendary improv theater Second City, in Chicago and Los Angeles. She died at age 89 on Oct. 11.
Bill Skadden
After 27 years in education, Bill Skadden took up community causes in retirement, working to help establish the Ice Age Trail, curating the geology exhibit at the Door County Museum, presenting educational programs at Peninsula State Park, and contributing writing to the Door County Advocate and Resorter Reporter. He died at age 86 on Aug. 21.
Larry Smith
An advocate for the environment and sustainable living, UWGB professor Larry Smith was also an inspiration for the Peninsula Pulse’s annual Sustainability Issue. He died in August at his home in Nasewaupee.
