The La Crosse Tribune du lieu suivant : La Crosse, Wisconsin • 11

SECTION Actors show students how to treat people B-2: town La Crosse Tribune Thursday. December 15, 1994 3 LA CROSSE STATESMAN: An obituary Years To Remember. A look back on the life of Ray Bice Many children have asked, 'How does it feel to be almost 1 00 years I often tell them it seems like Rip Van Winkle's dream a story of a man who had fallen asleep for 1 00 years and awakened irVa different world. I find myself in a different world no longer the youngest of my generation but the oldest of the last seven generations of my family that I remember. How does it feel? Like a dream.

Raymond C. Bice, from 'A Century to Remember his parents' home at 1607 family lives on a farm near 1896 1994 April 5, 1896: Bom Avon St. 1 S04-1 909: The Bice Holmen. 1909: The family moves to La Crosse's North Side, where Bice attends the Ninth Ward Grade School and works in Summit Foundry after school. 1912: Quits school in 8th grade to work in a carpentry shop.

June 4, 1917: Marries Myrtle Olsen. She died Feb. 18, 1963. Serves on Eastern Front in World War I. 1921-1924: He and his grandfather are partners in a sash and door factory.

1924: A brother-in-law, Errol Olsen and Bice found the in IN WORLD WAR Bice poses in his uniform in this 1918 photo. Bice-Olsen Lumber and Millwork Co. Over next 56 years builds 400 homes. 1 934-1 936: President of the first La Crosse County Airport Committee, 1 933-1 938: Elected to the La Crosse County Board. 1939-40: President, La Crosse Chamber of Commerce.

June 4, 1942: The Bices celebrate 25th wedding anniversary; Ray and his youngest son, Richard, both graduate from Logan High School. iv 1 I tr.Tv; Vi -r T. n. if i iff Tributes with soft By GRANT BLUM Of the Tribune staff paid to the man smile, quiet voice BAD BREAK: Ray Bice saw many presidents, but he only had his picture taken with one Richard Nixon. "I got a bad break," Bice said in a 1993 Tribune interview.

"The only president I got my arm around was Richard Nixon. Just my luck." Bice is shown here with Nixon during the president's visit to Madison in 1967. 1944-58: Member, St. Luke's United Methodist Church board of trustees. 1 946-1 953: Serves in Wisconsin Assembly.

1 953-1 969: Serves in Wisconsin Senate. NOV. 19, 1966: Marries Mary Jane Rice. She died on June 22, 1984. 1969: Retires from politics and builds last home at 1934 Nakomis La Crosse.

1970-1994: Devotes himself to writing and painting. RAYMOND BICE, 1993 His Memories: LISTENING as President William H. Taft spoke at the dedication of what was then La Crosse's YMCA in 1909. Bice, a barefoot boy in bib overalls, was 13 then. WITNESSING the arrival of the first airplane to land in La Crosse in 1911.

BUILDING his first house, at 1602 Liberty in 1920. Eventually he would build 400 homes in La Crosse, including his Nakomis Avenue retirement home, which he started when he was 74. And, when he was 81, he built an addition onto his last house so his daughter could have separate quarters. PAINTING, which he began in 1938, but didn't take up seriously until he was in his 70s. The pictures became gilts and artwork tor his Christmas cards.

WRITING newspaper articles showing his in history a hobby 1 lato in life. He also wrote two books, "Years to Remember" was printed in 1985 and "A Century to Remember" hit the bookstores in 1993. Cathy Actwtman of Itw Tribun stall Bice made people laugh Ray Bice's quiet wit would sneak up on you, but he could quickly turn a routine smile into an out-loud laugh. And he could do it without a profane word or coarse joke. For instance: HIS NAME surfaced a couple of years ago, when it was time to choose a title for the new North Side elementary school.

Some bureaucrats thought it would be a good idea to name the school after Bice, but students and others thought North Woods was a better name. Bice solved the dilemma by asking that he be withdrawn from consideration for the honor. He later quipped that perhaps his name could be given to the county's new jail. A PROFESSIONAL magician for 35 years, Bice once called Walter Kohler onto the stage during a performance in Madison In 1951. Bice used a pair of scissors to snip the necktie off Kohler, who happened to te the governor of Wisconsin at the time.

Bice then restored the tie, and Kohler liked the trick so much he later called the magician into his office and asked how it was done. The governor practiced a bit, then reported he wanted to cut Bice's tie before both houses of the Legislature as they were adjourning But the governor hadn't practiced enough, "I lost a lie," Bice recalled. paint pictures for various aides and friends still in Madison. "I would be the transporter," Roberts said. La Crosse Mayor Patrick Zielke was stunned when told of Bice's death.

"That's quite a shock," Zielke said. "I don't think I had more respect for a man than Ray Bice." Zielke praised Bice for helping to bring two different airports to La Crosse including the original one near the site of the present Erickson Pool. Zielke also said Bice had a special talent for both writing and speaking about La Crosse's history. "He brought the past out today so we could understand it," Zielke said. Bice served on the board for what is now Western Wisconsin Technical College when its founder, John Coleman was still alive.

Former WWTC director Charles Richardson said he arrived at WWTC in 1965 when Bice was still in the Legislature. "When he was in the Legislature, he did what he could to help us," Richardson said. Richardson said Bice would stop by in later years, just to chat and see what was happening at the school. Bice was a lifelong member of St: Luke's United Methodist Church. The Rev.

William McBride said Bice was active in church affairs until shortly before his last illness. McBride said Bice also made a "substantial donation" to a fund drive two months before his death, saying "I want to do it now, not after I go." Bice's death canceled a special tribute to him planned by past and present members of the Wisconsin Senate at their five-year reunion in May. Risser said Bice was to be honored at that gathering and paid tribute as the state's oldest living state senator. Former state Sen. Raymond C.

Bice's political career officially ended in 1968 when he lost to Milo Knutson, an ultra-conservative former La Crosse mayor whose bombastic style was in sharp contrast to Bice's gentle nature. But those who knew Bice accorded him what few modern-day politicians seem to achieve respect from friend and foe alike. "lie was a wonderful man," Gov. Tommy Thompson said when informed of Bice's death Wednesday. "His word was his bond.

His integrity was beyond reproach." In 1988, Thompson presented Bice with the Coles Bashford Award for achievement. Bashford was Wisconsin governor in 1856. Bice, whose quiet voice and soft smile were trademarks, received praise for his personal and political conduct from those who knew him or worked with him. Former State Sen. President Fred Hisser, D-Madison, was a political opponent who respected Bice when they were both in the Legislature.

"When he got up and spoke, the people listened," Kisser said. Kisser said Bice picked his issues, rather than ramble on many Issues and therefore won respect of his colleagues. State Senate President Brian Rude, R-Coon Valley, cited Bice's leadership. "For me, he was one of the great men in the La Crosse community," Rude said. "He's been such a powerful force In the county for so long." Rude also praised Bice's conduct.

"He was the best of what a political) should be," he said. Former State Rep. Virgil RoIhtIh, D-Holmen, who entered the Legislature shortly after Bice left, spoke of Bice's talents as a painter. RoIhtIs said Bice would Tribune ptMMe FIRST HOUSE: In 1991, Ray Bco poses in front of the first house he built, in 1920, at 1602 Liberty La Crosse. He would build more than 400 more..