Roger Rathke

Rathke, Roger

MADISON - Harry Rathke, born Oct. 30, 1934, as the only child to Herb and Dorothy Rathke of Rockford, Ill., passed away on Aug. 6, 2020, in Madison, Wis. He was husband to Nancy Horn Rathke and father to Liz, Kathryn and Susan.

After growing up in Rockford, Ill., he divided his early adulthood between attending UW-Madison and two years in the army, stationed in Austria and Germany. He had the good fortune to enlist in the counter-intelligence unit, which afforded remarkably memorable experiences. Back at the UW, he rose to become Editor-in-Chief of the university's yearbook, The Badger. It was during these UW years when he also met his wife, Nancy, and invented (but never patented!) Frisbee Golf.

Graduation led to a highly creative life in advertising, initially as the very first employee of Stephan & Brady in Madison, and eventually as head of his own firm, Rathke Blair Kearns Frost in Rockford. But he seemed to find his true vocation when he became a Senior Lecturer of Marketing back at his Alma Mater, UW-Madison. He was devoted to his students, pushed them to rise to their best selves while keeping a sense of humor, and they were in turn devoted to him, many keeping in touch for years.

In retirement Roger was able to continue nurturing others, as an enthusiastic participant in SCORE (Service Corps Of Retired Executives), which was dedicated to assisting small businesses to solve their problems and flourish.

Throughout all these endeavors Roger inspired many lifelong friendships. He was loved for his brilliant sense of humor, his hard work, his generosity, and his pranks. He was devoted to his family, numerous cats, the Badgers, reading, photography, and traveling. We would need a gigantic book to contain all the incredible stories and memories he shared and lived through with us (the carrots suddenly dropping from a low-flying plane into his MG convertible as he drove on the Autobahn in post-war Germany, his capture by the Russians when he got lost on a foggy night in Vienna, the incredible Galapagos trip he shared with all the family not long ago, and so many others). We will miss him very much.