Sokolowski mourned by fair-goers

Walworth County Fair Board President dead at 72

By Anne Trautner

Assistant Editor

Walworth County Fair Board of Directors and employees were saddened to learn of the passing of Edward ‘Ed’ Sokolowski, 72, the Fair Board president, on Sunday.

“It is unfortunate, very, very unfortunate,” said Susan Pruessing, marketing and public relations manager for the Walworth County Fair.

Sokolowski, 72, of Elkhorn, died at St. Luke’s Medical Center Milwaukee after an apparent heart attack. He was born Sept. 26, 1941.

“He was a kind, extremely kind man,” Pruessing said. “You never really heard a bad word come out of Ed’s mouth. He was a very kind and compassionate person.”

Sokolowski had been a member of the Walworth County Fair Board for 30 years, first serving as treasurer in 1983, and then elected president in 2004.

“He contributed to the community tremendously,” Pruessing said. “He will be very missed by many organizations,” Pruessing said.

Sokolowski was the past president of the State Association of Wisconsin Fairs, a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church finance committee, member of the Elkhorn Knights of Columbus Council 3464, and charter member and past president of the Elkhorn Rotary Club.

Sokolowski and his wife of 43 years, Judy, have two married daughters, Stacey Malvitz and Amy Mullikin, and five grandchildren.

Sokolowski graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He served in the U.S. Army, with a tour of duty in Vietnam.

He worked in finance, starting as a loan officer for Production Credit Association in Elkhorn. He then worked as branch manager for Blackhawk Credit Union of Delavan and then Walworth State Bank, before retiring in 2006. He currently was working as a bailiff at the Walworth County Courthouse.

Much of his time was spent working for the fair, though. As board president, he helped oversee the county fair and all the other events that are held on the fairgrounds throughout the year.

Sokolowski was involved with the county fair long before serving as board president. As a young boy in 1957, first in 4-H, then through the Future Farmers of America, he was involved in showing beef, dairy and hogs, as well as wood crafts and gardening.

He often recalled the thrill winning the Grand Champion Landrace Gilt at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1959, Pruessing said.

“If you had the pleasure to talk to Ed, it soon [became] apparent he had a true passion in his heart for this little piece of ‘Americana’ we know as our County Fair,” Pruessing said.

For six days over Labor Day weekend for the past 30 years, Sokolowski could be found working at the Walworth County Fair. Since 2004, his duties included truck and tractor pulls, antique car and tractor parade, and running the backstage and grandstand area, where concerts sometimes reached a capacity of 25,000 and more. His committee duties on the fair board were tickets, personnel, building and grounds, finance, security, vendors and policy.

In 1994, Ed was recognized as the Outstanding Fair person award in the State of Wisconsin and went on to receive the Wisconsin State Hall of Fame award in 2006.

Sokolowski always served the fair with integrity, enthusiasm and a commonsense approach, Pruessing said.

On Monday, the board was still reeling from the shock of the loss and struggling to comprehend the loss, according to Pruessing.

“This was totally unexpected. It is just a shock to us,” she said. “We will just miss him. He was a great guy. He has big shoes to fill.”

But one of the things Pruessing will miss most is Sokolowski’s upbeat personality.

“He always had a joke ready that he could tell,” Pruessing said. “And he always had a smile on his face.”

Services

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 107 W. Walworth St., in Elkhorn, with the Rev. Oriol Regales officiating.

Visitation will be Friday, 3 to 8 p.m. at Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Home and Crematory, 730 N. Wisconsin St., in Elkhorn.