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Writer's pictureBenjamin Reiser

Steve Kapelke: A marathon-life reaches the finish line

Updated: 5 days ago

On September 23, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Steve Kapelke passed away in hospice in Milwaukee after suffering from kidney disease for the past 6 months and having a series of strokes the night before his passing. Even though he only served as VP for 19 months, he will be remembered as a very influential leader and person of impeccable integrity and character.



Kapelke was born in Milwaukee on October 31, 1946. After graduating from Milwaukee Lutheran High School, he served the U.S. Army from 1968-70. Following his discharge, he studied filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Before becoming a teacher, he worked in a variety of jobs including land surveyor, factory worker, bank teller, bartender and documentary filmmaker. The ambitious faculty-member worked his way up to Provost of Milwaukee Institute for Art and Design and later Columbia College, before becoming a contract consultant for the Higher Learning Commission, playing a pivotal role in the re-accreditation of Clarke University. He also served as Interim Dean of Adult and Graduate Studies at Clarke from 2012-2014.

 

When the faculty chose Kapelke as their next Vice President and Dean of Faculty in February of 2023, President Fletcher Lamkin called him up to tell him the news, asking when he could come to work. According to Lamkin in an interview with “The Crux”, Steve answered, “I’ll be there the day after tomorrow [taking a job in Dubuque while living in Milwaukee (editorial note)]!”. The new Vice President began his work right away, developing the academic advising unit and starting the First-Year Advising Department. The president considers him a person of “very high intellect and character” with perfect integrity, which is fundamental in his position. Lamkin believes that this played a big part of his positive relationship with the faculty as Kapelke was always “frank, honest and open” in meetings and conversations. Yvonne Zimmerman, former Dean of Academic Affairs remembered his leading principle “Status quo is not good enough”, which he took very seriously and inspired everybody to improve something together every single day. 


Kapelke’s illness, a kidney disease, started about 6 months ago, when he left the university in February to get tested at the hospital in Milwaukee. After spending some time at home, he came back at the beginning of this semester and resumed his work. On September 13, the day of Convocation, Kapelke walked into the president’s office and opened up about his inability to take part in convocation. Zimmerman took over his role and he drove back to the hospital in Milwaukee with his wife. They found that he was suffering from an infection and placed him into ICU. After getting better, Kapelke had a call with Lamkin, telling him how excited he was to get back to work the coming week. He was supposed to be released from the hospital the following day. That night, the 77-year-old suffered from a series of strokes, he was taken off dialysis and put into hospice with only weeks to live. His wife describes his passing “almost as if he had it choreographed”. While Kapelke was unable to speak or recognize people the morning after his strokes, he had a rebuttal later that day and could talk to his family, who all were there with him. At 4am in the morning of the following night, Kapelke passed away.

 

For all his life, Steve was a runner. He participated in marathons all over Europe, including the London, Frankfurt, and Viennese, as well as running the Milwaukee marathon multiple times. At the beginning of this fall semester, Kapelke made a remark to Yvonne Zimmerman saying that he “could still run marathons two years ago [at age 75 (editorial note)]”. Furthermore, he played tennis, loved vintage films and was an avid reader. According to Zimmerman, he always put his family first, walking out of meetings if he had to take an important call from his family. He is survived by his wife, as well as three daughters and several grandchildren.

 

Kapelke leaves behind his own legacy and will be honored by Clarke University because “his impact was not just in the last 1 ½ years, it will last for decades”, said president Fletcher Lamkin. There will be a memorial service in Milwaukee on October, 19 and a memorial service with a tree planting in his name at Clarke University in the next weeks. Additionally, the university is looking into naming opportunities for his work, such as the center for teaching and learning. This decision will also be made in the near future.

 

Yvonne Zimmerman will take his position as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty with immediate effect. The open position, Dean of Academic Affairs, will be filled either with an internal or external candidate in the coming weeks. Zimmerman will carry on his changes and plans. This starts with the revision of the general education curriculum that is still in progress. There is also a larger process of curriculum renewal and a furthering of the impact of academic advising.

 

“You don’t need to thank me for doing the right thing, you should expect me to do the right thing.”


Steve Kapelke

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