Obituary for David M. Vetrano

David is survived by his wife, Linda (Speziale) Vetrano, his daughter Jessica (Luke) Argent Vetrano, Minneapolis; son, Mitchell Vetrano, Racine; his brother Richard (Karin) Vetrano, Milwaukee, and their children; sisters Terry (Scott) Kraemer, Oconomowoc, their children and grandchildren; and Vicki (Ron) Krizek, Elm Grove and her son. He had no shortage of family, and his various sisters and brothers in law, nieces, and nephews are listed below.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Inno and Mae (Nero) Vetrano, father-in-law William Strupp, mother-in-law Gloria (Moore) Strupp, his late wife Gennean (Strupp) Vetrano, and brother-in-law Michael Schroeder.

A small family observance will take place shortly, to be followed by a Celebration of Dave’s Life at Pettibone Resort in La Crosse, Wisconsin on April 5, 2025.

Born in Cudahy, Wisconsin on July 21, 1950, Dave learned to love fish and the waters they inhabit from an early age, fishing with his father in park ponds and lakes near Milwaukee. He graduated from Nathan Hale High School in 1968. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1969 and served during the Vietnam conflict as a crew chief doing maintenance on B52 bombers and KC135 tankers from bases on Guam, Okinawa, Spain, and Alaska just to name a few. After leaving the Air Force in 1974, he earned a degree in Biology and Fisheries Management from UW-Stevens Point’s College of Natural Resources, graduating with honors, and took his first DNR position as a Great Lakes fisheries technician in 1977. After stints on Lake Michigan and in Black River Falls, he moved to the La Crosse area in 1980 and became the first trout stream technician funded by the Inland Trout Stamp. Eventually he was assigned to manage the trout fisheries in La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon and Crawford counties, which he did until his retirement in 2010.

During his DNR career, Vetrano was a driving force in the coldwater stream restoration which has made the Driftless Area a nationwide destination for trout fishing and a boon to the area’s economy. At times working clandestinely, he developed an experimental program raising “wild trout” to increase survival rates for fingerlings. In several streams he worked to restore the native brook trout of this area and protect them from predation by introduced brown trout. In 1983, Dave developed a better trout habitat feature called a LUNKER structure, first installed in Spring Coulee near Coon Valley. Over the next 30 years, thousands were installed across the region and nation. To honor his efforts, he was named Trout Unlimited’s 2008 National Conservation Professional of the Year.

Dave was a passionate and committed man who left our world better than he found it. Not solely through his long-time career improving trout streams for the critters that populate them, but also through 16 years of public service on the Bangor School Board, advocacy for resources through Greenfire, his volunteer work with Trout Unlimited, and leadership through several groups working to help young farmers develop healthy managed grazing practices.

Vetrano was a colorful figure with curly shoulder-length hair, an earring and a work uniform consisting of engineer’s boots and a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt. He was willing to try experimental approaches, test them and use them more widely. Those experiments led habitat crews to develop and incorporate features designed for multiple species found in our stream corridors, including snakes, turtles, minnows, songbirds, waterfowl, and pollinators. He understood his work wasn’t just about trout, and to be effective it had to involve whole watersheds, not simply a focus from one streambank to the other.

In his personal life, Dave was an avid hunter, fisherman, hobby farmer, and a better carpenter than he would ever admit. He married Gennean Strupp in 1985, who shared his joy of the outdoors, challenged him with her creative ideas, and gave him a daughter, Jessica, in 1993. They had thirty beautiful years together before her untimely passing in 2012. Dave was lucky to have more love enter his life in 2013 when he met Linda Speziale. Though their decade of marriage was cut far too short, they supported each other's passions, enjoyed cooking and sharing the food they grew, and adored their five precious kitties. Their deep love for each other was clear to all around them through to the end.

In addition to his wife, daughter, sisters, brother and their spouses, Dave is survived by his nieces and nephews on the Vetrano side: Erika (Stevan) Garza, Mason Kraemer, Jordan Wallenfang, Evan (Lain) Vetrano and Julia Vetrano, and by his grandniece and grandnephew, Reese and Roman Garza; his Strupp family: Brian (Janice) Strupp, JR (Kara) Strupp, Tracy (Terry) Scharper, Pat (Amy) Strupp, Kelly (Art) Herbst, Stuart Strupp, Bud (Tina) Strupp, Megan Strupp, Mikey Strupp, Coleton (Brookelyn) Strupp, Brooke Scharper, Samantha Scharper, Braxton Strupp, Luke Scharper, Ben Strupp, Caden Strupp, and Ramsey Strupp; and Linda’s family: son Vincenzo (Amy) Speziale family, son Derek Sepziale, daughter Ashley Speziale, mother Teresa Commisso, and brothers, Mario (Mary) Commisso and family, Marc (Claire) Commisso and family, and Leonardo Commisso.

Dave’s family is grateful to his caregivers, doctors and nurses at Mayo La Crosse and Rochester, the angels from the hospice program and family members and friends who provided care and support in his last difficult days.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Coulee Region Humane Society, couleehumane.com, Mayo Clinic Pancreatic Cancer Research, www.philanthropy.mayoclinic.org or the charity of your choice.

Online condolences and expressions of sympathy may be offered on this website.

Fredrickson Funeral Homes and Crematory is assisting the family.