  |
|
| Passion for life, community defined FL’s Norm Tolzmann |
|
|
| Wednesday, 26 November 2008 | |
|
Cliff Buchan News Editor Norm Tolzmann was not shy about meeting challenges head-on. Be it Highway 8, school issues, church and community causes or his beloved Tin Man water tower, Tolzmann acted with passion for causes that moved him. “Whatever he did, he did with passion,” said his son, Ken, commenting on the life of his father. Norman A. Tolzmann, a lifelong resident of Wyoming Township, died from pancreatic cancer at Birchwood Health Care Center in Forest Lake on Friday, Nov. 21. He was 85. Although Tolzmann lived north and east of the border in Chisago County, he owned dual citizenship as much as anyone. Throughout his life, he worked on causes that were Forest Lake in nature and he considered himself a Forest Lake resident. “He did everything with passion,” his son said. “You knew where you stood with him. You could disagree with him and you could argue with him. He was built on love, not anger.” During his life in Forest Lake, he was passionate about many causes. He served 16 years on the Wyoming Township Board of Supervisors from 1982 to 1998. He was first elected at a time when the town board was in the process of expanding from three members to five. Tolzmann was also a strong booster at Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake and a highly recognized member of the Forest Lake Lions Club. When it came to Highway 8, the state highway that spans the property where he was born and raised, he was long an advocate for safety improvements. He helped form the Highway 8 Task Force and carried his concerns to the highests levels, including a face to face meeting with the late Gov. Rudy Perpich who was so convinced that he helped steer improvements toward US-8. He used the same passion with appeals to city of Forest Lake leaders to preserve the now demolished Tin Man. The tower eventually came down but not before Tolzmann and the late Elsie Vogel, Forest Lake’s historian at the time, waged a public relations campaign that delayed the act for about two years. A wise man Ken Tolzmann believed his father had a wisdom that was crafted in his humble upbringing during difficult times that included the Depression years, a devastating fire and World War II. A number of years ago, Ken Tolzmann said he and his father would often discuss the future of the township and if the town would be better off to seek annexation to Forest Lake. “I was beginning to think it was a good idea,” he said. But that opinion eventually changed, he said, as he came to understand how difficult it would be to annex non-metro land to Forest Lake. “This was one of the times when I thought he was dead wrong. But a year or two later, I realized he was right. I was thinking short-term. In the long run, he was absolutely right.” Tolzmann’s many years of contributions were recognized this past summer. He was a grand marshal of the American Legion’s Fourth of July parade in which he appeared some 50 times and also had a park renamed in his honor by officials of the city of Wyoming and Wyoming Township. His early life Norman August Tolzmann was born on Aug. 31, 1923 on the family farm just outside of Forest Lake on US-8. He was the last child born to August Tolzmann and often joked that because of his rank in the family order and his August 31 birth, he was truly the last of August. Norm Tolzmann was 8 when the Tolzmann farm home burned to the ground. “They lived in the barn,” Ken Tolzmann said of his family’s housing situation in 1931. “It taught him the value of family.” He was nearing the end of his high school days when World War II broke out. His oldest brother, Leonard, was in Superior, WI, working on the docks, while his second brother, Raymond, joined the Army Air Corps. “Dad stayed back and took care of the farm during the war,” Ken Tolzmann said. “He gave up his last year of high school.” In the mid-1940s, he met Beulah Engquist of Forest Lake and they married on Sept. 11, 1948. They celebrated their 60th anniversary this fall. His work Farming became a fixture for Norm Tolzmann and he continued to work the land throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The family milked up to 40 cows, raised chickens and sold eggs and worked crops while Norm spent time driving school bus for extra income. He was a bus driver for 15 years. Ken Tolzmann was a key farm hand during his high school years “He was always great at fixing things,” Ken Tolzmann recalled. In the early 1950s he learned welding from the late Ray Bergerson and used those skills to start Tolzmann Ornamental Iron. The business became his main vocation in 1968 when his son graduated high school and went off to college, signalling an end to his father’s farming. He would lease the land over the years to other area farmers, his son said. When he finally hung up his welding torch in 2006, Tolzmann had spent more than 50 years crafting iron projects for customers from throughout the area. His son said as much as he loved welding, he enjoyed even more the people he met. “He was a people person,” his son said. In addition to his town board service, he was also active the past 20 to 30 years with community functions. He was a long-time member of the Men of Faith at his church and a leader in starting the annual Mother of the Year honors program. He was also active with the annual lutefisk church dinner. “If he took on a project, he took care of it,” his son said. “The church was his true passion.” Funeral details A funeral service for Norman A. Tolzmann was Monday, Nov. 24 at Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, with interment at Scandinavian Cemetery, Forest Lake. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Beulah “Bee”; son, Kenneth; daughter, Becky (Alan) Hatcher; grandchildren, Daniel, Steven, Melissa, William Hatcher and Carrie Hatcher; sister, Katherine (Millard) Olson; sister-in-law, Mercedes Tolzmann; many nieces, nephews and friends; and his favorite canine pal, Laddie. He was preceded in death by his parents, August and Esther Tolzmann; brothers, Leonard Tolzmann and Raymond Tolzmann; sister-in-law, Irene Tolzmann. Memorials may be made to Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, in his honor. Social Bookmarking ...       |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|