Dr. Herbert William Rice

RICE, RACHOR, MORRISON, SCHWARTZ

Posted By: Diana Diedrich (email)
Date: 9/14/2005 at 18:32:20

Winona, Minn. -- Dr. Herbert William Rice, died Tuesday Sept. 13, 1994, at Valley View Nursing Home, Houston, Minn.

Dr. Rice was born in Lansing, Iowa, to William and Emma (Rachor) Rice on Aug. 20, 1903.

He graduated from Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, recieved his masters degree in 1926 from State University of Iowa, and his Ph. D in 1938 from University of Iowa for his work done on the history of the Milwaukee railroad. He also attended Columbia University and the University of Chicago.

He never missed a day of teaching in over 40 years at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He retired in 1969. He earned the unofficial title of "Mr. Milwaukee" for courses and speaking engagements regarding the history of Milwaukee. From 1969 until his move to Winona, Minn. in 1988, he worked at the Milwaukee Public Library, indexing the Milwaukee Sentinel. For six months, Dr. Rice helped supervise 100 project workers on the indexing of Milwaukee's past.

He was a witty intellectual, a lifetime bachelor, with an "endless" thirst for knowledge. He was the ultimate teacher, and conversed eloquently on topics ranging from architecture and railroading to classical music, to geneology and the stock market. Death came with dignity, in a room full of crying nurses, in a nursing home in Minnesota. The following work by William Cullen Bryant was memorized and offered by Dr. Rice whenever death was discussed.

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumberable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed.

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

Survivors are Raymond (Frances) Rice of Winona, Minn.; Russel (Julie) Rice of Rochester, Minn.; Ted Rice of Winona; Marianne Rice (Donald) Morrison of Winona; and a special friend Virginia Schwartz of Milwaukee, Wisc.

Funeral mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m., Thursday, by Father Paul Breza at Watkowski Funeral Home, Mankato Ave., in Winona, Minn.
Burial will be at Lansing, Iowa following the funeral.

LaCrosse Tribune, Thurs., Sept. 15, 1994 Pg. C-3