Donald Pfister

Donald Pfister (1930–2024) was a self-taught artist who grew up on a dairy farm in rural Lafayette County, Wisconsin. His parents were first-generation Americans, descended from Swiss and Norwegian immigrants.

After graduation from high school, Pfister served in Korea. Upon his return, he married, raised a family, and owned a small business in Monroe, Wisconsin. In 2006, at the age of 76, Pfister built his first small to-scale model of East Wiota church. Before his death in 2024, he completed an additional twelve model buildings and several paintings.