Former Wisconsin Republican legislator Raymond C. Bice was born on April 5, 1896 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. For a few years his family owned a farm near Onalaska, but when Bice was thirteen the family returned to La Crosse. Not long after, Bice dropped out of school in order to go to work.
During World War I he served overseas with the American Expeditionary Force. Later he became a building contractor and lumber wholesaler in La Crosse. Between 1920 and 1960 the Bice-Olson Manufacturing Co. built over 300 homes. Nevertheless, Bice also found time to play a prominent role in local civic and political affairs including serving as president of the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce, member of the American Legion, and chairman of the Oak Forest Sanatorium Board. In 1931 Bice was elected to the county board, and he served several terms until the Depression-era demands of the position adversely affected his business. As a member of the board, Bice played a prominent role in the development and construction of the La Crosse County airport which was dedicated in 1935.
In 1940 Bice ran unsuccessfully in the Republican congressional primary. However, in 1946 he was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly and was reelected in 1948, 1950, and 1952; he moved up to the Senate in a special election in 1953. Bice continued to hold that seat until 1968 when he was defeated in the Republican primary by Milo G. Knutson.
As a legislator Bice's interests were broad, with highway safety, education, and health and welfare issues being predominant. In 1949 he was largely responsible for implementation of Wisconsin's first highway speed law, and his ongoing interest in highway safety led him to write and work for Gov. Warren P. Knowles' highway safety bill in 1967. As part of this legislation Bice unsuccessfully championed a uniform 21-year-old beer law for Wisconsin. Bice was also very interested in education, having served on the board of the Coleman Technical Institute for 27 years (he received his high school diploma from that institution at age 46) and he served in the Senate Education Committee. Other committee assignments are detailed in editions of the Wisconsin Blue Book.
In addition to his business and political careers, Bice was a man of many vocations. As a young man he studied magic with Walter Mieklejohn, eventually becoming an accomplished amateur magician himself. He was also a woodworker and a watercolorist and a published writer on local history and government. Since leaving the legislature Bice has continued to reside in La Crosse.
