November 2012 The PlatyPress is a newsletter for members of the Platypus Circle. The Platypus Circle is composed of individuals, corporations and foundations who share our passion for supporting the Milwaukee County Zoo, conserving endangered animal species, and teaching the importance of preserving wildlife and its natural environment. The PlatyPress is published two to four times a year by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM), 10005 W. Blue Mound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53226. www.zoosociety.org
Austin Ramirez: A Global View ational
Photo
provided
Austin
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It’s impressive to be president of a major international manufacturing company that employs 1,300 people worldwide. It’s even more impressive when you’re only 34 years old, like Austin Ramirez, a new member of our Platypus Circle. The Milwaukee resident became president and CEO of HUSCO International—a major global manufacturing company based in Waukesha, Wis. — in July 2011. HUSCO provides hydraulic and electrohydraulic components for automobiles
and off-highway applications. Originally a subsidiary of Koehring/ AMCA, HUSCO International was bought out in 1985 by Ramirez’s father, Agustin, who continues to serve as executive chairman. It took Austin about 10 years at HUSCO to obtain his current station. He also has impressive athletic and academic credentials. After graduating with a double major from the University of Virginia in systems engineering and economics, he earned an MBA from Stanford University in California. In 1998 he won a gold medal for the United States in the World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Western Australia. His accomplishments earned him inclusion in the 2012 Business Journal of Milwaukee’s “Forty Under 40” list of influential young leaders. So why does he like the Milwaukee County Zoo and support the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM)?
Like many people who grew up in southeastern Wisconsin, Ramirez has fond memories of visiting our Zoo. He remembers the unforgettable Samson, the Zoo’s most famous gorilla. He recalls riding the train. He also remembers his parents buying him Mold-ARama animal figures—but only if he was on his best behavior. “Those were pretty cool for a 6-year-old boy,” he says. Perhaps
because of his competitive swimming, Ramirez says, “I love the underwater exhibits—I must be part fish. I could spend hours wandering through all of the aquatic exhibits at the Zoo. I’ve also always loved dolphins, sharks and the fast, powerful fish.” “The Zoo is a wonderful resource for our community and a favorite of our employees,” he says. “We have had several great company events at the Zoo and, since we became Platy members in 2012, our three HUSCO Zoo Passes have become a coveted and muchutilized perk for our 500 local employees, especially during the summer months.” Although he’s a busy, globe-trotting businessman, Ramirez recently took his niece and nephew on a behind-the-scenes tour at the Zoo. “They had a blast feeding the giraffes and getting behind the scenes in the big cat exhibit and feeding the fish,” he says. “It was fun to see how much they enjoyed the Zoo.” Ramirez expects the Zoo to remain a big part of his life into the future. He and his wife, Heather, are expecting a baby. They look forward to enrolling the child in the ZSM’s Conservation Education classes, which start as early as age 2. Ramirez, who’s on the boards of non-profits such as the United Performing Arts Fund and Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, believes in supporting groups that improve the quality of life in Milwaukee. To ensure that the ZSM and Zoo can continue to offer cuttingedge programs and exhibits, Ramirez joined the Platypus Circle. He thinks others should do so, too. “The Zoo is an important resource for our community and one that we all have a responsibility to help support.” By Zak Mazur
NEW PLATYPUS MEMBERS AR E Y 5 2 NEW ERS MEMB
rse Judy De jenvick th H. G Elizabe eyse Roxy H Budde Sybil La s eld Lab Marshfi as J. Murg William r owe PieperP eren Jody St Jeff and n Till Judy Va wsky Warsha Lowell s, Inc. ssociate A n o s Thom Zimmer
A Bit Above LLC
Jodi Majerus
Lacey Sadoff
Jeff & Melody Anderson
Tony & Anne Mallinger
Sam's Club
Associated Bank
Elizabeth Meyer
Michelle & Eddie Sauer
Dick & Yuko Baldwin
Manufacturing Services Inc.
Kristopher & Carrie Schroeder
Dr. John Beltz
Morgan Kenwood Advisors, LLC
Ryan & Kristin Schultz
Dr. Phil Burns
National Business Furniture
Tyler & Kathleen Vassar
CCI Communications Group
Danae Oldenburg
Steve and Rebecca Verhagen
Eva L. Chess
Ronald Ota & Amy Byrne
William J. Volkert
John & Vida Ciulik
Bruce Paler
Community Impact Programs
Rick Pearson
Keith Ward/Ward Illustration & Design
Ann L. DiCastri
The Pet Apothecary
Shannon & Paul Watry
Graymont Western Lime Inc.
Robert M. Poehlein
Wells Fargo Investments
Daniel & Leanne Harmann
Bob & Virginia Pothier
James Henry
Betty Purdy
HUSCO International
James & Nancy Redding
Cindy Kanzleiter
Rexnord Foundation
ISC International, Ltd.
Mike and Gwen Ruedin
Nancy & Tom Kingsbury
Roadrunner Transportation Services Milwaukee Terminal
Dr. Mike Lasser
Want to Do More? We appreciate the generous contributions you as a Platypus Circle member provide our organization! Without your gracious support to the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM), the Milwaukee County Zoo would not be the fine institution it is. If you have a passion to do more to sustain and nurture the ZSM, we welcome your support. Here are just two ways you can help:
Planned Giving Embraces the Zoo for Generations to Come By joining the Simba Circle, the ZSM’s planned-giving society, you can create a legacy of giving to help ensure the Zoo’s future for your family and the entire community. Planned giving helps you to realize your longterm vision and dreams for the Zoo. Planned giving comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. One could be right for you and your family. For more information, please contact Kim Peterson, senior development officer, at (414) 258-2333, ext. 310, or KimP@ZooSociety.org. You can also visit the ZSM website for details at ZooSociety.org.
Engage New Platypus Circle Members Please don’t keep the great benefits you receive as a Platypus Circle member a secret! As a Platypus Circle member, you receive membership cards that you can share with friends, unique behind-the-scenes tours, and attraction tickets for the North Shore Bank Safari Train, PNC Bank Zoomobile, Penzeys Spices Carousel, and Supercuts Oceans of Fun Seal/Sea Lion Show. Our members enjoy recognition in ZSM publications like Contributors and on electronic signage in the U.S. Bank Gathering Place. They are also invited to VIP events that include private openings of new exhibits, a family picnic, and the annual Platypus Recognition Dinner. Platypus Circle benefits also can be shared with employees as part of a motivating and exciting incentive program. Encourage your friends, neighbors, and business contacts to join you as new Platypus Circle members.
A Lifetime Conservationist
Sybil La Budde
Sybil La Budde photos provided by Gigi La Budde
Gigi La Budde receives a framed gorilla handprint Sept. 27 to mark her mother, Sybil La Budde’s, 25 years as a Platypus member.
“Spiders are our friends,” Sybil La Budde used to tell her daughter, Gigi. And, to the consternation of her family, house centipedes were a protected species, lauded as “beneficial predators in the home.” From her father, Samuel Graham, a pioneer in the study of forest insects, Sybil Graham La Budde learned the value of every part of an ecosystem, from bugs to trees. She put that knowledge to good use when she helped found the Zoological Society of Milwaukee's (ZSM's) volunteer auxiliary, Zoo Pride, in 1975. She went on to become Zoo Pride's second president and a member of the ZSM's Board of Directors. She was an early member of the Platypus Society, now called the Platypus Circle. In fact, this year she celebrated her 25th year as a Platypus member. Her support of the Zoological Society stretches back more than 60 years. With sadness, we note that Sybil La Budde died on July 16, 2012, at the age of 89. She and her husband, George, were dedicated to conservation, the Milwaukee County Zoo and the ZSM until the end of their lives. George joined the Zoological Society in 1940, was an active Board member from 1946 to 1983, was ZSM president from 1954 to 1956, led a fundraising campaign for the Zoo’s move to Blue Mound Rd., and was still an honorary ZSM director when he died in 1990. Sybil stayed in Zoo Pride until the early 1990s and continued attending Platypus events until a few years ago. Last spring she called the ZSM office to note how much she enjoyed the April issue of the ZSM’s Alive magazine. Her obituary mentioned her many volunteer hours at the Zoo. “I remember when I was in graduate school,
she’d be trundling off to the Zoo in her khaki outfit and giving tours,” recalls Gigi La Budde, of Spring Green. She says her mom, who after graduating from the University of Michigan worked as a corporate trainer for IBM for many years, brought strong organizational skills to Zoo Pride. Rachel Jones, a charter member of Zoo Pride and also a Platypus member, describes Sybil La Budde’s tireless efforts. “She wrote the first training materials for Zoo Pride. There were no computers or Internet back then. She hand-wrote the materials, and I would take them to work and type them up after hours. There were quite a lot of pages. Things were very detailed, even down to the anatomy of an animal’s bones. We did the whole Zoo.” La Budde also wrote all the original animal fact sheets for the ZSM’s Sponsor an Animal program. Sybil and George La Budde, who drove a Porsche with license plates reading ZOO 1, went on the first African safari that the Zoo offered, in 1982, led by then Zoo Director Gil Boese. “In 1986, on our first trip in Zimbabwe, Sybil went but George did not,” Dr. Boese recalls. [This was just six years after Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, had won its independence from the United Kingdom.] “Sybil gave us a very interesting loss of breath. We were at the lodge in Hwange, Zimbabwe, and we came across some elephant tracks and decided to track them. There were six of us. We had to go in single file through the bush. We suddenly realized we had walked right into the middle of this herd of elephants. All of a sudden, a youngster and a mother saw us.
At Sybil La Budde’s funeral, her granddaughter read from a Mary Oliver poem, “Wild Geese.” This is an excerpt: Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
Dressed in her Zoo Pride uniform, Sybil La Budde worked on training materials in 1982.
I whispered to everyone: Don’t make a sound. I don’t know what Sybil was thinking, but she stepped out of the line and took a picture. Click! The elephant calf cried. The mother charged. Our guide and I stepped out and both of us shouted as loud as we could. The mother elephant stopped in her tracks, almost like she put brakes on. Then she turned away. I turned and asked Sybil, ‘What did you do?’ She said, ‘I got a very good picture.’” Adds daughter Gigi: “She was fearless. Right after my dad died, she bought a horse and took up dressage. She was 67.” Sybil’s devotion to animals and conservation has rubbed off on Gigi. “I’m a restoration ecologist and an environmental educator,” she says. “It seems to run in the family.” Sybil’s father, Samuel Graham, was a forestry professor and entomologist at the University of Michigan, where the Matthaei Botanical Gardens now has a collection called the Sam Graham Trees. He was one of the first to promote the value of a whole ecosystem, not just one tree or one animal. George La Budde’s mother, Wilhelmene (18801955), was the first woman elected to the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame for the influence she had on saving Wisconsin's natural resources and for promoting environmental education in the public schools.
In 1979, Sybil La Budde received her award for volunteering 1,000 hours to Zoo Pride.
An early photo of Sybil La Budde.
Platypus Recognition Dinner The annual Platypus Circle dinner is a way to honor major donors to the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM). This year’s dinner, held Sept. 27 at the Milwaukee County Zoo, also marked the presentation of the ZSM’s highest award, the Emu Egg. Presented since 1982 to people who have given outstanding service to the ZSM, the award is a real emu egg encased in glass. Katherine Hust of U.S. Cellular (pictured at left/right) received the award for consistent meritorious service and exceptional contributions and commitment to the ZSM. Hust began her relationship with the ZSM in 2005 by becoming a Board member and Platypus member. She held the vital role of Zoo Ball co-chair in 2009. Zoo Ball is the ZSM’s largest annual fundraiser. She has passionately contributed to the ZSM education committee since 2006 and has been instrumental in pioneering and nurturing a strong bond between the Zoological Society and U.S. Cellular for over nine years. Hust is U.S. Cellular’s vice president of sales for the mid-central region. The 2012 Platypus dinner also recognized over 50 new members this year as well as those who celebrated their 25th year of Platypus membership (see page 2). Some of the new 25-year Platypus members are pictured here.
Katherine Hu
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Murgas, William ber pus mem ty la P r a 25-yea
Elizabeth Gjenvick, a 25-year Platypus member
Sarandos d Bonnie , David an field Labs sh ar M of ember typus m la P r ea a 25-y
Lowell Warshawsky, a 25-year Platypus member
Till, Judy Van member Platypus
r a 25-yea
Jody and Jeffrey Steren, a 25-year Platypus member
Please remember the Zoological Society in your will or estate plan. Zoological Society of Milwaukee County Development Department 1005 W. Blue Mound Road Milwaukee, WI 53226 (414) 258-2333 DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Thom Brown Dr. Robert Davis Mary Ellen Enea Karen Peck Katz Maria Gonzalez Knavel Joe Kresl (chairman) Jack McKeithan Allen Martin Deborah Musante Jill Pelisek Tricia Shinners Judy Holz Stathas Dave Strelitz Jane Bush Wierzba DEVELOPMENT STAFF Karen Von Rueden, Vice President of Development Kim Peterson, Senior Development Officer Georgia Young, Development Assistant NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTORS Paula Brookmire, editor Zak Mazur, writer Richard Brodzeller, Photographer (unless otherwise noted)
On the Web For back issues of Platy Press dating to September 2006, go to www.zoosociety.org/pubs/platypress.
Jan. 24 Puttin’ on the Ritz dinner and boxing fundraiser for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM)* Feb 7 The ZSM’s Wines and Beers of the World evening fundraiser* March 9 The ZSM’s members-only trip to Chicago’s Field Museum; pre-register*
April 26 Zootastic, a ZSM evening family event* May 23 Platypus/VIP premiere of the Zoo’s special summer exhibit; invitations will be mailed. June 22 Zoo Ball evening fundraiser*
*For more information, call (414) 258-2333 or go online at www.zoosociety.org.
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