Town of Merton - Real estate developer Ronald Siepmann was killed Sunday during a family gathering at his home, and a teenage relative is being held in the Waukesha County Jail in connection with the slaying, authorities said Monday.
Siepmann's son, Jim Siepmann, said Monday that his father was killed during a Mother's Day celebration at the elder Siepmann's home.
The 17-year-old Fox Point teen who is being held in the killing is expected to make his initial court appearance Tuesday, said Detective Steve Pederson, a spokesman for the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities were called to the home on Beaumont Lane about 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Siepmann was found dead near a shed on his property, the Sheriff's Department said.
Jim Siepmann said his father was semiretired. Ronald Siepmann, 78, lived in Arizona during winters but returned here for summers and continued his work with Siepmann Realty Corp. He had just returned from Arizona on Saturday, Jim Siepmann said.
Ronald Siepmann joined the family business more than 50 years ago. The company has grown into one of the major residential development companies in Waukesha County.
"He was an absolute leader for conservation development and very responsible construction," said Bill Carity, owner of Carity Land Corp. in Brookfield. Carity worked for Siepmann, whom he called a role model, for 22 years, until 1988.
Carity compared Siepmann's influence on conservation-sensitive development standards in metropolitan Milwaukee to the impact Frederick Olmsted, called the father of landscape architecture, had on the National Mall he helped design.
Among Siepmann's first "cluster" subdivisions was Pebble Valley on Waukesha's northwest side, Carity said. These conservation-type subdivisions cluster homes on smaller lots that front landscaped cul de sacs, with backyards that front pedestrian-friendly green space and parkways. They aim to accommodate development while preserving the natural character of the land.
"That was his signature," Carity said. "Their standards are recognized nationally."
Under Siepmann, the firm built office buildings in Bishop's Woods on Blue Mound Road in Brookfield, Carity said. The firm also built Stonewood Village shopping center on Capitol Drive in Brookfield.
Siepmann owned the Proud Popover restaurant, which has closed, and the Loaf and Jug, which was later sold and relocated. The firm recently built Old Main Street retail shops and offices on the Pewaukee lakefront.
Siepmann said in a 1975 Milwaukee Journal interview that his father, Paul J. Siepmann, started buying farms as a hobby in 1941 and selling acre lots for $400. Paul Siepmann and a brother, Richard, went into the business full time in 1948, and Ronald Siepmann became president of the company in 1957 after Richard Siepmann died, according to news files.