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The longest serving mayor in La Crosse’s history, Pat Zielke has passed away this week at the age of 85. He was not having good health for some time, and he also lost his wife Bea last year. Funeral arrangements will be declared soon for the former La Crosse mayor.

Pat Zielke led the city La Crosse for 22 years. He was selected for seven terms in all starting in 1975.

He served in the City Hall for 22 years before retiring in 1997. Zielke unveiled a display of all the mayor in the history of La Crosse alongside the present Mayor, Tim Kabat in 2014.

Current Mayor Of La Crosse Expresses Grief Over Social Networking Sites

Current Mayor Tim Kabat, after the death of former La Crosse mayor, wrote on social networking sites with his picture captioned, “Remembering this day back in June 2014 when La Crosse's mayors got together to unveil a new display in City Hall. It was great to share that morning with Mayor Pat, talking about his years of service and some good stories too,” as reported by Wizm News Talk.

Tim Kabat also said that being mayor is certainly not the easiest task on a daily basis, but Mayor Pat Zielke made this task very easy for him by accomplishing it successfully for more than a period of two decades with good humility, humor and a never-ending focus on the citizens of La Crosse. He ended his note by saying that La Crosse has lost a great man.

Pat Zielke Never Took The Credit For Himself For Bringing Major Changes In La Crosse

According to La Crosse Tribune, Pat Zielke was very instrumental in the development of Valley View Mall along Highway 16 during his 22 years in the chair of Mayor. He also highly improved La Crosse Regional Airport and two industrial parks.

The best part of Pat Zielke was that although, many credited him for bringing major changes in the city but he always refused to take all the credits.