John C. Ullrich

John C. Ullrich John C. Ullrich, 56, of Wausau, died of a gunshot wound in Chicago on the evening of Jan. 20, 2002, trying to prevent a robbery at a livery business where he was working. John was a gifted musician, a concert organizer, a taxi businessman and a crack fisherman whose many talents and interests traversed a wide and varied spectrum of communities. He was born on May 22, 1945, in Wausau and attended Franklin School, where he demonstrated an intense interest and natural talent in music at an early age. He began music lessons in the fourth grade and took up the string bass, partly because he was the tallest student in his class. He graduated from Wausau High School in 1963, where he studied under the school's orchestra director, David Riege. He later studied music with his mentor Marie Endres at Milton College and then at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point under the prominent bassist, Gary Karr. The bass fiddle became John's trademark, and he lightheartedly nicknamed his bass Mildred a