STANLEY EMIL WALLESER 1916-2005

BERNS, WALLESER, KNICKERBOCKER, KEENAN, HALVORSON, JOHNSON, KOELLER, BAUMAN, HENDRICKSON, BRUDOS, BRINGE, MCDONAH, GRIFFIN, FINKRAL, HAWES, KIMSEY, BROWN, FREIBURGER

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 8/20/2005 at 21:18:51

Stanley Emil Walleser

Stanley Emil Walleser, 89, of rural De Soto, Wis., passed away at the home of his daughter, Susanna (Ronald L.) Brudos, of rural Viroqua, Wis., on Aug. 13, 2005 due to congestive heart failure. He was surrounded by his loving family.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 9 p.m., with a vigil service at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Thorson Funeral Home in Viroqua. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 17, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Viroqua. Stanley’s grandson, the Rev. Richard Halvorson, will officiate. Friends and family may call at the church one hour before services. Burial will be at the Walnut Mound Cemetery in Retreat, Wis.

He was born Aug. 10, 1916, in Garnavillo, Iowa, to the late John Joseph and Anna Henrietta (Berns) Walleser. At the age of three, Stanley’s family moved to Tilston, Manitoba, Canada, where he attended rural Canadian schools, forming lifelong friendships and an enduring love for the prairie. The family returned to Garnavillo in 1929.

He married Velma Mae Knickerbocker on Oct. 5, 1937. They resided for many years in Allamakee County, Iowa, before purchasing the Dr. Christensen farm in rural De Soto in 1961, which Stanley operated successfully until his retirement.

Stanley was one of the first farmers in Allamakee County to implement contour farming. He also helped complete the Iowa-Wisconsin dike on the Mississippi River when the Blackhawk Bridge reopened. He was an avid woodsman, welder, mechanic, and inventor. He attended the Iowa Gadgets Fair in 1949, where he won an award for a self-propelled elevator that he designed and built. His skill and ingenuity allowed him to lend a helping hand to many friends and neighbors. He enjoyed reading, gardening, traveling in his RV (frequently through Canada), and hunting trips to Montana. He was a great conversationalist and a creative wordsmith with a vast repertoire of visual metaphors. But most of all, he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather.

Stanley was a member of St. Charles Catholic Church in Genoa, Wis. He served as church council president for Sacred Heart Catholic Church in De Soto, and served 10 years as chairman of Sterling Township. He was also a lifelong supporter of the Republican Party.

Stanley is survived by his wife, Velma; his fifteen children, Clement (Judy Day) Walleser of Dubuque, Iowa, Betty (Pat) Keenan of Viroqua, Bernadette (Richard) Halvorson of East Dubuque, Ill., Donna (Gordon) Johnson of Lansing, Iowa, Alice (Mansel) Koeller of De Soto, Henrietta Bauman (Daisy) of East Dubuque, John (Jean Marks) Walleser of Viroqua, Helenjean Walleser of West Des Moines, Iowa, Virginia (Orville) Hendrickson of De Soto, Susanna (Ronald L.) Brudos of Viroqua, Edward (Vivian Shields) Walleser of De Soto, Stanley (Shirley Reed) Walleser (Buck) of De Soto, Mary Jo (Armand) Bringe of Viroqua, Kevin (Anne Elwing) Walleser of De Soto, Margaret (John) McDonah of Byron, Minn.; 64 grandchildren; 90 great-grandchildren; and five sisters, Alice Griffin of Dayton, Ohio, Wilhelmina (Gerald) Finkral and Isabelle (Leo) Hawes of Lansing, and Phyllis (Lou) Kimsey and Colleen (Del) Brown of Fort Collins, Colo.; five sister-in-laws, Esther Walleser of Waukon, Iowa, and Joan Walleser, Dolores Walleser, and Bernice Walleser of Lansing; and many nieces and nephews.

Stanley was preceded in death by his infant son, Joseph; five brothers, Francis, Lawrence, Louis, Wilfred, and Edwin; a sister, Helen Freiburger; one son-in-law, Ralph (Henrietta) Bauman; one grandson, Russell Halvorson; and two great-granddaughters, Danielle and Katelyn Keenan.

Waukon Standard, August 17, 2005