Obituary: Rolf Quisling - Class of 1929

Services today for last of the Quisling Brothers
Dr. Rolf Quisling, who died at age 91 in Florida, was one of the four who founded the clinic

By Valeria Davis-Humphrey
Suburban Reporter

Dr. Rolf A. Quisling, 91, the last survivor of the four brothers who founded Madison's Quisling Clinic, died May 20 at his Destin, Fla., residence.

Vibrant until his recent brief illness, Quisling retired in 1999 after 66 years of medical practice here. He was within days of celebrating his 92nd birthday.

"It's difficult to summon all the superlatives to describe Doctor Rolf,' who was a gentle, kind and soft-spoken, yet a humorous and congenial man," said Middleton Mayor Dan Ramsey.

"He was a very good doctor, as he doctored me occasionally," Ramsey said. "I've known him for 44 years. He used to be my doctor when I was a kid. I was saddened to see that he had passed away."

Quisling and his wife of 59 years, the former Marie Sweeney, had lived throughout Dane County and pursued his second business, the Evergreen Sod Farm, in the town of Middleton.

"He was a community resident and not just a city resident," Ramsey said. "He was a very, very nice person to have in the community."

Quisling, a physician and surgeon specializing in ear, nose, throat and plastic surgery of the head and neck, was born with his twin brother, Gunnar, in Madison on May 25, 1909.

Rolf Quisling graduated from UW-Madison and completed medical school at the age of 21 at the University of Illinois-Chicago. A life- long researcher, he also earned post-graduate specialty degrees at the University of Berlin and the University of Vienna and served in the Army from 1943 to 1946.

Sverre, Abe, Gunnar and Rolf Quisling founded the Quisling Clinic in 1933. An architectural landmark in the Art Moderne style, the former clinic at 2 W. Gorham St., is now condominiums. The Quisling brothers also built the Edgewater Hotel and the Quisling Towers. Quisling is survived by three children, Dr. John Quisling of Mazomanie, Attorney Rolf Quisling of Charlotte, N.C. and Tricia Rennicke of Destin, Fla., and six grandchildren. Services are scheduled for today at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Middleton.

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on June 2, 2001 as a news story.

Last Dr. Quisling, Rolf, dies at at 91

Longtime Madison physician Rolf Quisling, the last of a prominent medical family, has died.

He died on May 20, just five days short of his 92nd birthday at his home in Destin, Fla., after a short illness.

Quisling and his brothers, Abraham, Gunnar and Sverre started the Quisling Clinic in 1933, and was Quisling was a practicing physician until shortly before his 90th birthday in 1999.

Although he moved his practice to offices on Mifflin Street in 1974, the clinic -- a Madison landmark with an art deco desgin and curved blond brick corners -- operated as a medical clinic until 1998 as part of the Physicians Plus system. It has since been remodeled into an apartment building.

Quisling, a plastic surgeon, was part of Madison's most prominent medical family. His father, Adnreas, started practicing in Madison in 1898.

Rolf Quisling graduated from UW-Madison, then went to the University of Illinois medical school.

He was preceded in death by his wide, Marie, who died in 1998, and his brothers. His last surviving brother, Sverre, died last January at age 102.

A Mass was scheduled for today at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 7450 University Ave., in Middleton, followed by entombment at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery.

Originally published as a news story in The Capital Times on June 2, 2001.

Note: Rolf Quisling's senior class photograph (below) appears next to that of his twin brother, Gunnar in the 1929 edition of the Tychoberahn, the yearbook of Madison High School (later renamed Central High School).