Walter W. "Wally" Weber

Walter Warren "Wally" Weber, 88, of Punta Gorda, Florida, died Sunday, September 6, 2009 in Bemidji, Minnesota. He was born November 2, 1920 in Pierce City, Missouri to Walter William and Fern (Loy) Weber. Soon after Wally was born, the family moved to Muskogee, OK where he graduated from Central High School. He attended the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma Military Academy before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, to avoid being drafted by his father who was head of the local draft board. After attending flight school in Texas, he transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps and became a fighter pilot, flying Corsairs in the South Pacific.After the war, he returned to Muskogee and in 1947, married Jeanne Lillian Bixby, and went to work for KBIX radio station and later the Muskogee Daily Phoenix where he served as Advertising Manager and later Vice President. After his wife's death in 1994, he married Phyllis Bjorneby Knutson, and moved to Punta Gorda, Florida, where he lived until his death.Wally was an avid golfer. As a child he walked five miles to play a round of golf. He was a long time member of the Muskogee Country Club, Grace Episcopal Church and life member of Oriental Masonic Lodge #430 A.F. and A.M. where he also was a Shriner and Jester. In his later years he attended reunions with his old squadron VMF114, which reunited him with his oldest best friends. He also enjoyed his summers in Bemidji, Minnesota, where he spent his last days. He became an accomplished artist in his later years, delighting family and friends with prints ofhis sketches as Christmas cards. He was always a gentleman, never raising his voice and never letting his golf game make him angry, which is a very rare occurrence. His grandchildren adored him and he them.Wally was preceded in death by his wife, Jeanne Bixby Weber, his brother H. Loy Weber, his mother and father, and his son, Peter Michael Weber. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Bjorneby Weber, his son, David Mark Weber and his wife, Dessa Kuykendall Weber, his step-children, Christie and Bruce Boeder of Minnetonka, MN, David and Shelly Knutson of Duluth, MN and James Andrew Knutson of Bemidji, MN. He is also survived by his grandchildren, David Mark Weber, Jr., Robert Bixby Weber, Grace Loy Weber, Steven and Jamie Knutson, Diana Knutson, Thomas Knutson, Geoffrey Boeder and Kirsten Boeder.He will always be remembered as a man of indelible character, great kindness, and unconditional love. We will miss him greatly, but know he is with God at peace.Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, September 14, 2009 at Grace Episcopal Church with the Rev. Joseph Alsay and the Rev. Jenny L. Pratt officiating. Interment will follow in Greenhill Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Brad Hoopes, Charles Bradley, Nick Fuller, Joe Foster, Jeff Collins, and Warren Wagner. Friends may wish to make memorials to the Growing Grace Campaign, at Grace Episcopal Church, 218 N. 6th St., Muskogee, OK 74401.The family has entrusted Foster Petering Funeral Home of Muskogee with the arrangements. Friends may send condolences to the family and sign a guest book by visiting the we page wwww.foster-petering.com