William "Bill" F. Sorenson

William “Bill” Frederic Sorenson, age 78, passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. He was born in Madison on Dec. 30, 1947 to the late Robert and Mary (Chase) Sorenson. Bill was a graduate of Deforest High School; class of 1966. Shortly after high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. He served as a battle medic from 1967 until 1973; he was able to participate in his Badger Honor Flight in May of 2025. He was united in marriage to Kathleen Ripp on Dec. 28, 1968.

Over his life, he was known by many as an incredible handy man; if it needed to be fixed, he’d figure it out; if you needed the tools to fix it, Bill had them. The contraptions he brought to life were always creative and sometimes intentionally humorous, putting his unique ideas to work. He worked for the Lodi School District in the maintenance and custodial departments until his retirement. Even in retirement, he couldn’t sit idle; he did projects at the Roxbury Tavern, and helped out at Dorf Haus and the Roxbury Township. If you needed the snow plowed or the lawn mowed, Bill would get it done. Whenever a friend needed help, Bill made himself available, with the added bonus of a smile and laughter. Many considered him one of their closest friends. He loved the outdoors, fishing and always looked forward to deer hunting and deer camp with his friends. Bill loved his wife Kathy deeply and nothing made him happier than spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren and sharing his sense of humor with them, often laughing the loudest at his own jokes.

He will be missed by his wife, Kathy; daughters, Andrea “Andi” (Mike Bates) Havey and her son, Alex (Lexa) Havey; Erin (Brad) Prohaska and their children, Nola, Olivia, William; siblings, Sally VanDenburg, SR. Jane Sorenson, and MaryKay (Glenn) Zimmerman; and sister in-law, Diane Highsmith. Bill is further survived by other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

A Celebration of Bill’s Life will be held from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm on October 3rd 2026 with Military Honors to be accorded at 2:00 pm by the Lachmund-Cramer VFW Post 7694 at Schoepp’s Cottonwood Resort, N586 Schoepp Rd., Sauk City.

Bill’s family would like to express their sincerest thanks and gratitude to the staff at St. Mary’s Hospital and to Val Clary LPN and to their friends Jill & Rick, Mary & Bill, Lynda & Dale, Rocky & Chris, George, Sharon, Tammy, Shake.