William M. Brewer

William Murrish Bill Brewer, age 59, of Boscobel, formerly of Lancaster, passed away Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Boscobel Area Healthcare in Boscobel, Wisconsin. He was born July 1, 1950, in Dodgeville, Wisconsin to William Emmett and Mary Jane (Murrish) Brewer.

Bill grew up in Lancaster, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Lancaster Senior High School in 1968. He attended the University of Wisconsin Platteville and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Social Sciences in 1974 and a Master of Arts in the Teaching of History and the Social Sciences in 1979. During his junior year he studied in Copenhagen, Denmark and returned there to study after he received his B.A. degree. He spent most of his working years in retail as a manager with several different companies.

Bill was born to be a different drummer. As a child he had several handicaps, particularly his vision, but he wasnt in the least concerned about them or hampered by them, and instead embraced an alternative universe of science fiction, comic books, and a random but wide-ranging and ongoing pursuit of trivia. In all of these endeavors, he seemed to find a personal freedom. He loved the water and spent his summers at the pool where he was always the youngest kid to spring fearlessly off the high board. Often he would sink to the bottom of the deep end and would seem to remain there curled in a ball for longer than the average human is supposed to be able to hold his breath. For Bill, water, was another alternative universe to inhabit much like his love for books and comics and data in general. Bill went mainstream for a while in his early adult life, and did well for himself, but ultimately found it wasnt for him. Although his later life was filled with tragedy, most of it self-sought, to the very end he remained the sweet, lovable kid and the dreamer he had always been as a child. Someone who would never hurt others though was sadly unable to stop hurting himself.

He is survived by his sister, Sharon Scanlan (Steve) of Prescott, Arizona; his aunts, Margaret Kinney, Lancaster. Wisconsin; Elizabeth Emery, St. Paul, Minnesota; Patricia Schleicher, Madison, Wisconsin; Clarice Brewer, Dodgeville, Wisconsin; many Murrish and Brewer cousins, niece, Karen Scanlan, Cypress, Texas; nephew Chris Scanlan, Redondo Beach, California and his best friend, Bruce Bossert, Hendersonville, Tennessee. Bill was preceded in death by his parents.

A memorial service and celebration of his life was held Saturday, November 21, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. at the Schwartz Funeral Home, 142 W. Oak St., Lancaster, Wisconsin, with Pastor Mark Hoehne officiating. A memorial grave side service was held on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Mark Hoehne officiating at Hillside Cemetery, Lancaster. Visitation was held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. until time of services at the funeral home.

In lieu of plants and flowers, memorials may be made to the Schreiner Memorial Library, 113 W. Elm St., Lancaster, Wisconsin or to the InHealth Community Wellness Clinic, 109 E. Bluff St., Boscobel, Wisconsin in memory of William M. Brewer. Reading, writing and the library were always a very important part of Bills life. His family is very grateful to the staff at the clinic for the special care and friendship he received from them during the past year.