Madison Astronomical Society

In Memoriam

  • Steve Meyer (1945-2025)

    Steve Meyer passed away unexpectedly on February 8, 2025, from complications arising following heart surgery.

    Born and raised in Stockbridge, WI, on Lake Winnebago’s eastern shore, Steve developed an early appreciation for dark, pristine rural skies. His dad was a high school principal and the elder Mr. Meyer’s belief in equal opportunity for students with disabilities planted the seed for Steve’s lifelong passion for human rights.

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  • Sue Balliette (1953-2023)

    Sue Balliette joined the Madison Astronomical Society in the late 1960s as a high school student after she learned of the club during a visit to the Washburn Observatory.

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  • Wynn Wacker (1949-2023)

    At the August 11th 2023 meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society, we learned that the Society had lost one of its longest serving members and guiding forces, Wynn Wacker.

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  • Bob Manske (1941–2016)

    portrait of Bob Manske

    Bob was an amateur astronomer par excellence. He was deeply immersed in virtually all aspects of the hobby: visual observing, variable star, lunar and planetary, occultations and grazes, eclipses, and solar phenomena. He was fluent in the technical language and theory underlying all of these areas. 

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  • “Doc” Greiner (1931–2015)

    portrait of Doc Greiner

    Richard “Doc” Greiner joined MAS in 1995 and remained active in the club until his death two decades later. He served two terms as its president, from 1999–2001. Doc (as he was known to everyone) spent his career as a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UW Madison from 1957 to 1992.

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  • LeRoy Yanna (1919-2005)

    portrait of Leroy Yanna

    It’s hard to overstate LeRoy Yanna’s impact on the the Madison Astronomical Society. The club’s current dark sky site, the Yanna Research Station (YRS), was named in his honor after Yanna donated much of the Green County land on which the observatory rests. 

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  • Edward P. Baillie (1903-2000)

    portrait shot of Edward Baillie

    On January 26th, 2000, the Society lost one of its founding members and guiding spirits, Edward Baillie.

    Ed was one of that small group of individuals who, in 1934-35, created the Madison Astronomical Society as a place where individuals with an interest in astronomy could get together, share their interests, and learn from each other in an informal atmosphere.

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