MATC Matters

Former art instructor William Feeny died last Friday, and friends and faculty who remembered him asked that MATC Matters share this news with our colleagues who may have known and worked with him.A memorial service is planned at the Community of Hope, UCC (Madison Christian Community), 4118 Old Sauk Rd on Saturday, Sept 29 at 11 a.m. (visitation begins 10 a.m.). Details are below. His family sent us this obituary describing his life of service to our community:

William D. Feeny, age 77, left this earth surrounded by family on Friday, Sept. 14, 2007 at the HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg. Bill was born in April 1930, the only child of William Francis and Gladys Elizabeth Feeny. He lived the first 24 years of his life in Bellerose, New York and was an Eagle Scout in Troop 216. Bill graduated from Public School 133 in 1943, Sewanhaka High School in 1947 and Adelphi College in 1951. At Adelphi College Bill was Junior Class president, Students Assoc. president, newspaper cartoonist, yearbook art editor, member of Pi Sigma Fraternity and Flambeau, the Men’s Senior Honor Society. Bill was a member of the New York Air National Guard, was activated for the Korean War and served as an artist in the USAF Office of Flight Safety Research. He met Fredrika while on Christmas leave. They were married in 1954 and moved to Connecticut. While a student pilot, Bill had a near mid-air collision, wrote about the experience and illustrated it. The article was published in Flying magazine and was the beginning of a career as an aviation writer and illustrator. While doing his research he had an opportunity to fly at twice the speed of sound, and to fly across Arctic North America from the Greenland icecap to Barrow, AK. His book, In Their Honor, was published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce, NY. He was an assistant to Bud Sagendorf on the Popeye comic strip, and Tom Gill, The Lone Ranger.

He was vice president of two ad agencies, decided he did not like advertising, and the family moved to Madison, WI in 1969, where Bill joined the art faculty of Madison Area Technical College. Bill earned a Master of Arts degree in Communication Arts (Film/TV) at the UW-Madison. He was popular among his students. In a school-wide poll, one student commented, “Mr. Feeny likes us! He really likes us!”, and another wrote, “Mr. Feeny and my high school football coach were the two most influential men in my life.” Bill taught the only cartoon courses in the state, and his course in audio-visual techniques and TV production was expanded to become MATC’s Visual Communications Associate Degree program. In 1990, Bill was named Distinguished Teacher of the Year. He retired in 1992.

In addition to art, he loved flying and became a pilot in 1954. He was on the Board of Directors of the UW Flying Club for seven years, and won trophies for his flying skills in Connecticut and Wisconsin air shows. He was an active pilot for 45 years until forced to quit by leukemia. He initiated the Madison Plastic Modelers Society and its newsletter, The PlastiCorner, was in publication for 25 years. Bill was a member of a number of aviation associations and societies. He also loved the wilderness, and led many canoe trips to MN Boundary Waters and the Canadian Quetico. He was interested in wildlife preservation, particularly that of the timber wolf.

Bill’s greatest love was for his family. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Francis and Gladys Elizabeth Feeny, and his infant granddaughter, Sophie Grindrod-Feeny. Bill is survived by his wife of 53 years, Fredrika, daughter Elizabeth (Tim) Roherty, and sons William (Dr. Gisela Wilson), Edward (Suzy Grindrod) and Dr. Brian (Kwi Suk Kim); six grandchildren: Anna and Grace Grindrod-Feeny, Lukas and Sean Roherty and Albert and Nolan Feeny. A Memorial service will be held at the Community of Hope, UCC (Madison Christian Community), 4118 Old Sauk Rd on Sat, Sept 29, 2007 at 11:00 AM with a time for visiting beginning at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the Community of Hope UCC, or the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.