POP/ROCK - March 10, 1987

Hundreds of fans, a high school chorus and ex-band mates from his first professional group turned out Sunday for a Milwaukee memorial to Liberace. Born Wladziu Valentino Liberace in neighboring West Allis in 1921, the late pianist-entertainer grew up in West Milwaukee and attended West Milwaukee High School, whose auditorium and chorus were used in the service. The Rev. David Haschka of Marquette University in Milwaukee, before delivering a prayer, said Liberace donated generously to the university. “We knew he was really from West Milwaukee, but all of us kind of claimed him,” Haschka said.