Ramon "Ray" Klitzke

1928 - 2019

Klitzke, Ramon "Ray" Ramon Arthur William Klitzke June 7, 1928 - March 29, 2019 Ramon Arthur William Klitzke (Ray) passed away peacefully from Dementia and Parkinson's on March 29, 2019 in Waukesha, Wisconsin at the age of 90. Ray was born in Chicago, Illinois and adopted at a young age by Hugo and Ethel Klitzke. From the beginning, Ray's athletic prowess was evident, and he excelled in virtually every sport from football, baseball, handball and diving. He graduated in 1950 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, with a B.S. Engineering, where he was President of the Junior class and Captain of the Swimming and Diving Team. After serving his country in the Korean Conflict, Ray attended the Indiana University--Indianapolis Law School in the evening program while working full time during the day and diving for the Indianapolis Athletic Club (IAC). He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1957, collecting ten Indiana state diving championships along the way. At the IAC, he was lucky to meet his athletic match and beloved wife Doris Rock, who was a swimming star attending Indiana University. Doris and Ray were married in Indianapolis on November 20, 1954. In Indianapolis Ray and Doris had two children, Ramon (II) and Albert, and then moved to New York City in 1957 where Ray worked full time as a patent attorney for Union Carbide Corp. and ambitiously attended New York University Law School in the evening, graduating with a Master of Laws (LLM) in Trade Regulation in 1958. Upon graduation from NYU he pursued his true passion, teaching, and accepted a position as Associate Professor of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. In Houston, Ray and Doris finally had a daughter, Ann, in 1963. In 1966, Ray accepted a position as Director of the Institute of Poverty and the Law at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, where he also served as a Professor of Law until he retired in 1994. Upon retirement, Marquette honored him as a Professor Emeritus. During his life, Ray served others in many ways including Chairman of Local Government Section (Association of American Law Schools), Reporter for the Local Government and Administrative Law Sections of the Wisconsin State Bar, Chairman of the Patent Trademark Copyright Section of the Wisconsin State Bar, and Clinical Director of the Marquette Juvenile Law Program. He was a prolific author not only of scholarly law articles but also of short stories and poetry as well, often finding inspiration from his life experiences and garnering several state and local awards. One of his early law review articles on trade secrets was cited 40 years later by the U.S. Supreme Court. Diving was one of Ray's passions. He competed not only in high school, college and law school, but he was ahead of his time when he trained and competed in his 30's in Texas against much younger high school and college "kids" in their prime. Age based "masters" competition did not exist in those days. Eventually the sports world caught up with Ray and he competed in masters level competitions in diving and swimming well into his 60's, excelling at the state and national levels. He was often heard saying, "If you can't beat them, outlive them." Unlike swimming, some of the older age groups in diving only had 2 or 3 competitors. Ray cherished his family and was incredibly proud of his children, grandchildren and Doris' impressive swimming and other accomplishments. He is survived by his wife Doris, children Ramon Klitzke and his wife Rochelle Haver, Albert and his wife Laurie, Ann Klitzke-Nelson and her husband Mark Nelson, grandchildren Michael Klitzke and his wife Jess, Julia Klitzke, Joanna Klitzke, Alyssa Nelson, Connor Nelson, and great grandchildren John and James Klitzke. Preceded in death by his parents Hugo and Ethel Klitzke and his brother-in-law Wolfgang Rock. Visitation will be from 2:00PM-3:45PM and a Celebration of Life will begin at 4:00PM at St. John's Lutheran Church on Friday, April 5, at 20275 Davidson Rd, Brookfield. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests sending a donation in his name to JDRF, Alzheimer's Association, or Marquette University. To receive this obit/directions text 1841045 to 414-301-6422