Personal Portraits

Catherine A. Reiser (Casey) has been a part of the Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program from its beginnings. Casey has deep roots in Wisconsin. She was born in Kenosha and grew up in Stoughton. She received both her B.S. (in genetics) and M.S. (in medical genetics) at the University of W isconsin. Indeed, except for a brief stay at the Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, Casey has spent her career serving the families of Wisconsin. Casey returned from Cleveland in 1981 and has been a genetics counselor within the Clinical Genetics Center since t hen. She is now a Distinguished Genetics Counselor, a title reserved for those who have demonstrated exceptional productivity and a special commitment to their activities. In addition to her WiSSP activities, Casey provides genetics counseling through the Teratogen Project, the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic and the Midwest Regional Bone Dysplasia Clinic.

Casey has been Associate Director of WiSSP since 1982. Once a neophyte, she is now, in her own right, an expert in the organization of University-community collaborations, educational initiatives related to stillbirth assessment and parental needs following intrauterine death. She has accepted responsibility for and initiated various activities of WiSSP including coordination and liaison with local care providers, establishing and maintaining a lending library, assisting in the generation of reports and research articles derived from the project and, in a more general sense, establishing order out of chaos.

Casey, and her husband, Skot Weidemann, have two daughters — Anna, age 9, and Emma, age 7. Skot, who is a professional photographer, has made his own special contributions to WiSSP. Casey cometimes suggests that she has no life beyond career, children, school organizations etc. On occasion, through, she does find time for mysteries, and . . . motorcycling.