Waldemar Gerassimoff was born in Paris, France of Russian parents on July 26th, 1935.  When Waldemar was five years old, Adolf Hitler invaded Paris, France which forced the family to move to Germany.  The family lived in Germany until Waldemar was 16 years old.  A Milwaukee family sponsored them and he and his family moved to Milwaukee.  Wally attended and graduated from North Division High School.  He joined the United States Air Force and spent four years on active duty from 1952 to 1956, and then four more on reserve until 1960.  Wally then went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1961.  While teaching at Milwaukee School of Engineering, he earned his Master's Degree in Computer Science at Marquette University.  He taught at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) for 25 years.Waldemar's love was his music.  He was taught how to play the bass by Father Owens at the Air Force 779th AC & W Base while he was stationed there.  He started his own band, The Four Star Quartet in the 1960's.  There were two sets of personnel, the original group and a later one.  When the later group broke up, Waldemar played with Tommy Sheridan's Group for 34 years.Waldemar and Joan (nee Miller) were married in 1959.  She survives him, as well as 3 sons, 3 granddaughters, and a great-granddaughter.Our family cherished their father and will miss him.For more on Waldemar's music, see his website: