Walter Harold Ask

St. Charles,Walter Harold "Wally" Ask, 94, of St. Charles died Saturday, November 9th at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. Wally was born June 2, 1919 on his family's farm in Campbell Valley of Houston County, the 6th of 13 children to Norwegian Immigrants' Haakan Karlsen Ask and Karen (Hansen) Ask. His early childhood was spent helping on the family farm and working on area farms, beginning at age 14. He graduated from Houston High School in 1939. In 1941 Wally entered the U.S. Navy and arrived at Pearl Harbor one week after the December 7th bombing. He served in Hawaii and later was an instructor at the US Naval Technical Training Center in Memphis, TN and St. Louis, MO, and also in Chicago teaching air craft maintenance. Wally was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1947 as an Aviation Chief Machinist Mate. He and Betty Jane Anderson were married on March 6, 1948. He then began his painting career in Houston, before moving to St. Charles, where he started Ask Paint and Glass, which later became Ask Paint and Carpet. He was in the painting business for 30 years before focusing on the carpet business for the next 20 years. In retirement he became a clown, first with the Shriner's Merry Medics of Rochester and also with the River City Rascals from Winona. Wally performed 50 clown appearances a year in makeup and pulled 1000s' of Tootsie Rolls from kid's ears over the years. He was also known for his many balloon animals that he made and wearing his fanny pack containing balloons and Tootsie Rolls when he was in public. Wally was a charter member of Faith Lutheran Church in St. Charles and served for many years on the Winona County Fair Board and the St. Charles School Board. He belonged to the St. Charles Senior Citizens and volunteered at the St. Charles Resource Center. Wally was a life member of the St. Charles Veterans of Foreign Wars and their firing squad, American Legion Post, 40 and 8, a charter member of National WWII Memorial and the International Order of Odd Fellows #24. He also belonged to the following Masonic organizations; Rising Sun Lodge #49, Order of the Easter Star Sunshine Chapter #98, Tyron Council #4, Scottish Rite, Osman Temple, Knights Templar, Shriners International, International Clown Organization, Rochester Area Shrine Club, Merry Medics of Rochester, He received several special awards including; the Masonic Hiram Award, Blue Cross Blue Shield Ageless Heroes' Bridging the Generations, Winona County Senior Citizen of the Year and many clown awards. Survivors include his wife Betty, four children; Virginia (Merlin) Mielke of Plainview, Wally Jr. (Corinne) of Orange, CT, Timothy (Jayne) of St. Charles and Kimberly Ask-Carlson of Alexandria, LA, 11 grandchildren; Tyler (Autumn) Mielke, Taryn Mielke-Torres, Tanner Mielke, Erik (Nicole Arms) Ask, Ryan (Kristi) Ask, Kevin Ask, Rachel (Mike) Nachreiner, Chris (Maggie) Ask, Kendra (Luis Martin) Ask-Carlson, Kieran Carlson & Keenan Carlson, 9 great-grandchildren: Sebastian & Savannah Mielke, Alexis Chavarria, Lincoln Ask, Michael & Brekken Nachreiner, Adalyn Ask, Haakon & Innes Martin. He is further survived by two brothers, Roy of Houston and Lyle of Rochester and four sisters, Velma Degallier of Winona, Esther Feine of Cortez, CO, Carol Kilstofte of Pueblo, CO and Anita (Craig) Currier of Pittsburg, KS. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother Carl and five sisters Hardy, Alma, Florence, Evelyn and Hazel. Funeral Services will be 11AM Friday at Faith Lutheran Church in St. Charles with the Reverend Steven McGinley officiating. Friends may call from 4-8PM Thursday at Hoff Funeral & Cremation Service in St. Charles. They may also call from 10-11AM Friday at the church. A Masonic Service will be presented at 8PM Thursday at the funeral home. Wally donated his body to the Mayo Clinic Department of Anatomy. Burial will be in Hillside Cemetery at a later date. Military honors will be conducted by the St. Charles VFW and American Legion Posts. Please share a memory of Wally at his on-line guestbook and view his Tribute Video when it becomes available at www.hofffuneral.com. Memorials are preferred to the Shriners Children's Hospital, Smile Train, Make a Wish of Minnesota or the charity of the donors choice.
Tribute video can be found at: videos.lifetributes.com/441219