Wallace "Wally" Pantzke

1930 - 2022

Wallace M. Pantzke, 92-year-old resident of Little Falls, MN, passed away on Saturday, December 31, 2022 at his residence.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Little Falls, with Fr. Ben Kociemba officiating. Burial will be at Our Lady of Lourdes parish cemetery. A visitation will be from 9 AM to 11 AM on Saturday at the church. Caring for Wallace and his family is the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls.

Wallace "Wally" Myron Pantzke left the world he loved on December 31, 2022. He was born to Edwin F. Pantzke and Alice (Johnson) Pantzke on August 16, 1930, at their family farm near Randall. Wally attended country school district 140 through 8th grade and graduated from Little Falls High School in 1949. Wally's love for the West took him to Montana during his high school years, where he acquired lifelong friends, worked as a ranch hand, and harvested grain from Canada to Texas. During his senior year of high school, he started work at the American National Bank of Little Falls and continued there until April 1953. Wally enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard on January 9, 1951, and was commissioned in 1957. He held many responsible positions in the 47th division as an officer. He was the purchasing and contracting officer and later became the Army Comptroller. Wally married the love of his life, Marion Chock on April 28, 1951 in Little Falls, MN. Together they raised their five children.

Wally loved spending time with his wife and family enjoying the outdoors in various travel trailers and at their cabin in Northern Minnesota. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, caring for his yard, tinkering in his shop on projects and helping others. As a couple, Wally and Marion enjoyed dancing with their friends and family.

Wally retired from his duties at Camp Ripley in April of 1988 with the rank of Colonel as Army Comptroller. In 1989, they moved and built their retirement home on Lake Alexander. Wally and Marion loved to travel while enjoying retirement and spent several winters in their second home in Texas.

Wally was very active in his community and was involved in many civic and church activities, including Morrison County Planning and Zoning, school board committees, Pinnacle Hunting Club, Lake Alexander, MN, Lake Association, Knights of Columbus, and many church functions in the Little Falls, Motley, and Randall parishes.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife Marion, of 72 years; children, Patricia A. (Gary) Morse, Thomas J. (Tami) Pantzke, Brian M. (Jennifer) Pantzke, and Susanne M. (Steven) Lemme; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His siblings include Donna (Hap) Johnson and Yvonne (Lynn) Kalahar.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin and Alice Pantzke; son, Charles S. Pantzke; brother, Edwin (Sonny) Pantzke; and sister, Margie Backowski.

Wally will forever be remembered as a kind man of faith and who loved his family and friends. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.