Governor From La Crosse Passes Away

He may be best remembered in Wisconsin as the governor who pushed for the

merger between the U-W and the state college system. Patrick Lucey died this weekend, at age 96.  Lucey served as a legislator and lieutenant governor before being elected governor in 1970.  He was born in 1918 at St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse, and in a recent interview for state archives, Lucey commented on how he got his first name:

(Click for Audio)

Lucey left the governor’s office midway through his second term, to become the U-S Ambassador to Mexico.