Founding member of von Briesen & Roper dies

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Attorney Wayne Roper, one of the founding members of Milwaukee-based von Briesen & Roper SC, died Sunday night at his Milwaukee home.

He was 87.

The cause of death was not immediately known, said Karen Brunow, the firm’s chief marketing officer. But she said Roper died peacefully, surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Roper in 1955 co-founded a Milwaukee firm that later became what is now von Briesen & Roper SC.

A corporate business attorney for more than 50 years, Roper was a mentor to current von Briesen President and CEO Randy Crocker.

“He once told me,” Crocker said, “that if he had his life to live over again he would do it exactly the same way. No greater epitaph could be written.”

Although he stopped practicing law several years ago, Roper still maintained a Milwaukee office and served as senior counsel until his death, Brunow said.

A 1949 graduate of Harvard Law School, Roper served as a director or trustee of a number of Wisconsin businesses and foundations, including Modine Manufacturing Co., Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

A Milwaukee memorial service will be scheduled, Brunow said.