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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Bob Waltz wasn’t a Forest Lake native, but he was the next best thing to it. Waltz spent nearly 70 years of his life here minus some service time during World War II.
Waltz, who was 85, died on Friday, March 14 at Fairview Lakes Medical Center in Wyoming after a short illness.
Born in Minneapolis, Waltz came to Forest Lake as a teenager in the early 1930s after his mother, Gladys Olson Jackson, remarried following the death of Bob’s father, Harry, in 1933. Waltz grew up here in a time when Forest Lake was a true resort town with lots of summer people.
He graduated Forest Lake High School in 1940 and later joined the Navy, serving two years of active duty as a gunners mate in the Pacific Theatre.
Waltz and his wife, Betty, lived in Minneapolis for a short time before moving to Forest Lake permanently in 1956 when he purchased his mother’s home at 407 North Shore Drive.
It was the home where he spent his teen years after his mother remarried and moved to Forest Lake. When her second husband died, she later became a Jackson by way of a third marriage.
Waltz made his living by selling pharmaceutical products and later teamed with two partners to start Animal Health Co. The South St. Paul company sold pharmaceutical products for livestock to farmers, ranchers and veterinarians.
He retired around 1980, working part time at his son’s bait shop, Mike’s Bait in Forest Lake. He also sold real estate for Hermes Realty, Forest Lake, for a number of years.
His time at the bait shop was as much fun as work, Mike Waltz said.
“He had a gift of gab and he knew a lot about fishing,” his son said.
“He liked Forest Lake,” Mike Waltz added. “He was a die-hard Minnesotan.”
Waltz was a life member of VFW Post 4210 here and a member of American Legion Post 225. He was also a member of the Forest Lake Masonic Lodge.
A funeral service for Frederick Harry (Bob) Waltz was Saturday, March 15 at Mattson Funeral Home, Forest Lake, with interment at Oakland Cemetery, Marine on St. Croix.
He is survived by his sons, Michael (Carol), and Timothy (Tina); grandchildren, Kim, Jeff, Andy, Heidi, Chris, Amanda and Caden; nine great-grandchildren; and great pals, Abby and Jamie, his two black lab retrievers.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; one son, Jeffery John; and a granddaughter, Kari.
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