James M Siefkas

Dr. James M. Siefkas, an esteemed professor of speech and theater, died September 10, 2026, in his bed in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 91.

Born March 24, 1935, in small-town Missouri, Jim spent his career in the speech and theater department at UW–La Crosse in western Wisconsin, where he taught generations of students. Colleagues and students alike will tell you he was teaching them far more than public speaking and the appreciation of theater.

He believed everyone should find their own way and made a habit of demonstrating it — by sailboat, by bicycle, and by kayak. Lake Pepin was his preferred stage, where he could usually be found at the helm of his sailboat, TeQuita, margarita in hand. There was, by every account, only one Jim Siefkas.

He is survived by his daughter, Heidi Noel Siefkas, of Nashville, and his younger brother, William L. Siefkas of Sunrise Beach, Missouri.

As he so often did, he left with a few parting words: strive for mediocrity.

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