John passed away on August 1, 2025 in Madison, WI at the age of 78.
Link to obituary and tributes: John Louderman III
Wisconsin State Journal tribute: John Louderman
John P. Louderman III, age 78 passed away on August 1, 2025, at Meriter Hospital in Madison. He was born on April 23, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois to parents John and Syrie (Lauronen) Louderman.
from Marc Pullman
John and I were casual friends and most of our contact was playing pick-up basketball with Harvey Lindenberg, one of John’s best friends since grammar school. Two things particularly impressed me about John: (I) he was a totally committed athlete and (II) John was a bona fide scholar.
I remember John as a starting lineman on Bowen’s football team. No surprise that he was on the team but the position he played was typically played by tall players bearing extreme girth , neither of which traits John had. And despite giving up 50 plus pounds to the opposing team’s blocker he had to collide with on each play, John was fearless as he willingly served up his body on every play. I still remember one of John’s badges of courage as he walked the halls of Bowen the day after a game with a lip swollen multiple times larger than what a lip was designed to be. No problem for John.
The scholar: The guy was always reading something. Even during a 5 minute break between games at the Catholic courts in the manor, while the rest of us were just trying to catch our breaths, John went directly to a book, which I’m guessing was probably a classic. He was an Ivy League caliber student at Bowen, and eventually established a successful law practice in Madison, WI.
John displayed his extreme courage to the very end. Despite being plagued with advanced cancer & a broken neck from a recent fall, John planned on driving down from Madison to attend our reunion. Sadly, this time his body was simply not up to the task and John will be greatly missed.
Marc Pullman
from Larry Steiner
First of all I would like to extend our deepest and most sincere sympathies to Robin. He will be missed.
Even though John and I grew up on the South side of Chicago, we didn't really meet until we entered high school in 1961. We belonged to the same high school fraternities (clubs if you want to be technical). What I remember most was a fun-loving person who lived life to the fullest. He was a football player and I was a baseball player. He was probably the only 165-pound offensive guard in the city of Chicago. He loved playing football and did so with reckless abandon. What I didn't know until later was that John was probably the most intelligent person I would ever meet.
After high school, John, with a few of my high school friends, entered the University of Wisconsin. I went to U of I in Champaign, Ill. It wasn't until three years later our paths crossed in O'hare airport. Both of our parents had moved to Southern California and we were on our way to spend Christmas vacation in Los Angeles. It was a chance meeting but it started a new and lasting relationship. We spent quite a bit of time together that vacation and continued meeting every so often. He was one of a few high school friends that attended my first wedding. I would visit him in Madison every so often and met Mountain (the famous Golden Retriever) who started me on the path of owning Goldens for the next twenty plus years. My wife Dawn and I met Robin, the love of his life, at a Bowen High School reunion many years ago. I remember his passion for his law practice, bike riding and his boat, golf at his club and his friends. As I said earlier, he lived life to the fullest.
Since high school graduation, there have been just three school mates that I have remained in contact with throughout these past 60 years. We don’t see each other very often. It takes a sad occasion like John’s passing to realize we didn’t meet often enough. Dawn’s and my thoughts and prayers are with Robin. May John rest in peace.
Larry and Dawn Steiner
from Steve Pritkin