Sen. Herb Kohl Public Memorial Service at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE - A public memorial service for former U.S. Senator and Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl was held Friday, Jan. 12 at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee.
Sen. Kohl died at age 88 in December following a brief illness.
Speakers, including former President Barack Obama's strategist David Axelrod, joked that the spotlight-shunning Kohl had ordered up a snowstorm to dampen attendance at his own memorial held at the Fiserv Forum where the Bucks play.
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"I’m not here to mourn Herb," Axelrod said. "I am here to celebrate this extraordinary life and to say how grateful I am that he was part of my life."
Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig spoke of his lifelong friendship with Kohl. The two met as 6-year-olds in grade school in Milwaukee and met weekly for lunch up until his death. Selig talked of Kohl's devotion to Milwaukee, most famously demonstrated by his purchase of the Bucks franchise in 1985 to keep it from leaving the city.
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images )
"His only goal was to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee and he sacrificed willingly to do so," Selig said.
Kohl sold the Bucks in 2014 and contributed $100 million toward construction of Fiserv Forum. In 2021, the Bucks won their first NBA title since 1971.
Kohl's nephew, Dan Kohl, said his uncle had a knack for remembering not only the names of Kohl's employees but their spouses and children as well. Over his 24 years as a senator, Kohl never boasted about his accomplishments, Dan Kohl said.
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Kohl's greatest legacy will be the scholarships he gave to teachers and children across the state, which were just some of his numerous philanthropic efforts, Dan Kohl said.
Kohl never married or had kids, but Dan Kohl said that dozens of his relatives from across the country and from Canada and Israel came to Milwaukee for the memorial.
Other attendees included U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet, state Rep. Greta Neubauer, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
Kohl served in the Senate from 1988 to 2012 and was succeeded by Baldwin.
Memorial donations may be made to:
LaFollette School of Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin Foundation
P.O. Box 78807
Milwaukee, WI 53278
Milwaukee Jewish Federation
1360 N. Prospect Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Wisconsin Teachers' Classroom Projects
c/o DonorsChoose.org
Reaction
President Joe Biden
"Herb Kohl was one of the finest people I’ve served with – a kind and principled man of integrity and character, one of Wisconsin’s greatest-ever advocates, and a dear friend.
"As a businessman, Herb was living proof of the American Dream. The son of immigrants, he rose from his first job as a bag boy in his father’s market to build an iconic retail chain. As the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, he helped to mold future world champions, and made sure the NBA team stayed put in his cherished hometown. As a Senator, he always chose work over the limelight and responsibility over ego, serving not for credit, but for the common good.
"Herb and I served together in the Senate for 20 years, including on the Judiciary Committee. We worked together to pass the most significant gun safety bill in history; to boost funding for community policing; and to support juvenile justice programs that helped to significantly reduce juvenile crime, while giving millions of young people a better shot at life. Throughout his career, Herb was unafraid to stand up to the business community that he’d come from, seeking to level the playing field for workers and make our economy more efficient and fair. Time and again, he fought for farmers and food safety; for affordable health care, childcare, education, and prescription drugs; staying committed to the hard work of compromise on behalf the American people. Above all, he cared about the people he served – his employees, his customers, his constituents, and his country.
"In all our years of friendship and time spent serving his beloved Wisconsin, Herb’s humility was always an immense source of strength – for him, and for all of us blessed to know him. He embodied the simple truth that we are a great nation because we are a good people.
"Jill and I send our condolences to his family, his friends, and the people of Wisconsin. Herb Kohl was the best of who we are as Americans."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.