Jacob Walther

Jacob "Jake" Walther, 79, of Winona, died at his home on Wednesday, July 4, 2012 after a short battle with cancer.The second youngest of 16 children, Jake was born on March 11, 1933 in Linton, ND to Jacob and Hannah (Brickel) Walther. He helped with the family farm and attended school in North Dakota until enlisting in the United States Army in October 1949. Jake proudly served for 3 years until he was discharged in October 1952. Four years later, Jake was united in marriage to Marlene Baumgartner in ND. Shortly after their marriage, he became the district manager at Watkins, and they moved to Moorhead. Jake and Marlene moved to Winona in 1971 when he was promoted to sales manager. He was employed by Watkins for over 40 years and loved traveling across many different regions to give training seminars. After retirement, Jake worked for Underdahl Chevrolet and Dahl Toyota in Winona for over 10 years. While driving the shuttle van, Jake was able to socialize with many people. He was also active in the Lions Club in Winona for over 15 years. His friendly smile will be missed by many. Jake loved spending time with family and traveling to the cities. No trip was complete without breakfast at Ikea and a detour to the Mall of America.Jake is survived by his wife of over 55 years, Marlene Walther; daughter, Jackie (Greg) Gabbert of Goodview; grandchildren, Melissa (Christopher) O'Hara of Altura, Cherilynn Gabbert of Winona, Trisha (Steven) Mackey of Lubbock, TX, Michelle Hoffman of Maple Grove, Mackenzie Benson of Winona, and Samuel Benson of Winona; 6 great-grandchildren; sister, Etta Sherman of Kingston, WA; brother, Herb Walther of Linton, ND. He is preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Cheryl "Cher" Benson in 2009; 13 brothers and sisters.Memorial Mass will be held at 10:30am on Friday, July 6, 2012 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with visitation one hour prior. Reverend James Berning will officiate. Private family graveside services will be held at Woodlawn Cemetery.Please share a memory of Jake with his family, sign the guestbook, and view his video tribute when it becomes available at www.hofffuneral.com.
Tribute video can be found at: videos.lifetributes.com/317167