Bill Rydwels Papers

Bill Rydwels was born William Warren Lasen on October 9, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois. He was adopted by his aunt, Helen Rydwelski, after his birth mother Marie Lasen placed him in an orphanage. In 1950, Bill graduated from Carl Schurz High School and went on to earn his Associate Degree from Wright Jr. College in 1955 and a Bachelor of Science in speech/drama education from Northern Illinois University in 1958. In 1985 he and his partner of 17 years, Pedro “Franco” Prieto, learned they were both HIV-positive, and three months later Franco died. In 1987, Bill attended the first meeting of a support group for HIV-positive people initiated by Chris Clason, becoming one of the founding members of Test Positive Action Network (TPAN, originally TPA). Another of many highlights of his HIV/AIDS activism includes his involvement in the Names Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was exhibited at Navy Pier in Chicago in 2001. Later in life he became a prominent advocate for elders living with HIV/AIDS, and was even inducted into the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 2001. Despite being told he had only two years to live after his initial diagnosis, Bill lived until he was 87, surviving cancer twice as well as a heart attack. He passed away on October 4, 2019.