Cissie Peltz

Cissie Peltz

Born Sophia Jean Liebshutz, 85, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, passed away on April 3, 2013 peacefully after a 4 year battle with breast cancer.

Cissie was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1927. A graduate of Hyde Park High School, she went on to earn her B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1947. On January 1, 1953 she married her High School sweetheart, the late Richard Walter Peltz, who would go on to become a noted Philosophy Professor and Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, before his untimely passing in 1975. A cartoonist by trade, Cissie was a pioneer for working women when, in the 1950’s, she sold her cartoons and was published in the Saturday Review, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and the Milwaukee Journal, among others. She also had a weekly cartoon in Today’s Health Magazine for over a decade. While in college, she honed her cartooning skills by drawing for the school paper. This work included drawings of her professors- notably one of famed Physicist Enrico Fermi who would go on to become a pivotal principle in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Her career as a Cartoonist would eventually span over 40 years.

An avid art collector, she parlayed this interest in all things art into a Gallery Business by opening her own gallery – Peltz Gallery- in Milwaukee in 1989. Her specialty was contemporary art, and printed works in particular. True to her background, she became the first gallery in Milwaukee to have a yearly show dedicated to the works of women artists. The annual “Remarkable Women” show has become a highly regarded and much anticipated yearly event in the Milwaukee art scene. Humble and self-effacing, she earned the reputation as a gallery owner who understood the artist’s perspective and their struggles. All whom she represented, could count on Cissie to put their needs as an artist before her needs as a gallery owner.

Loving mother of David ( Jennifer) Peltz, proud grandmother of D.J., Michelle and Samantha Peltz, further survived by other relatives and friends. Private graveside family services were held Friday April 5, 2013.

A celebration of Cissie’s life will be held at a later date. In accordance with her wishes, a Memorial Fund in honor of Cissie will support a major print acquisition for the Milwaukee Art Museum collection. Memorials can be sent to Peltz Gallery, 1119 E. Knapp St. Milwaukee, WI 53202. Please make check payable to: Cissie Peltz Memorial Fund.