Obit: Gulke, Walter Max (1920 - 2007)

Transcribed by: Crystal Wendt

Surnames: Gulke, Sager, Rubom, Drew, Yasunaga, Barbero, Arcangel, Pacia, Grove, Hodge, Raisler, Leiz, Horath

---Source: Foto News (Merrill, Lincoln County, Wis.) Wednesday, 23 May 2007; page 9

---Gulke, Walter Max (29 Sept. 1920 - 19 May 2007)

Walter M. Gulke

Walter Max Gulke, 86, of Merrill, died Saturday, May 19, 2007, at his home, under Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice.

Born in Lancaster on Sept. 29, 1920, Walter was the son of the late Otto Albert and Gertrude Sager Gulke. He married Marilyn Rubom in Merrill on June 30, 1951. They were divorced. He then married Henrietta Manalo on March 28, 1994, in Merrill. She survives.

Walter farmed in the Town of Pine River until 1940. He then moved to California and worked at the San Diego Arsenal until enlisting in the Navy in 1942. Walter served aboard the USS North Carolina for the remainder of World War II with the rank of coxswain. He then settled in Boston, Mass., where he worked for a car dealership prepping and delivering cars. Walter returned to the Town of Pine River in 1946 and worked with his grandfather on the family farm until 1951. At that time Walter purchased a back hoe and started an excavating service which he operated until recently. In 1959 he started his plumbing business, which he operated up until he became ill. Walter had also dug graves for many years. He enjoyed fishing, ice fishing, hunting, and was an avid stock car racing fan, having owned his own race car. Walter was a dyed in the wool Ford man.

Survivors include his wife Henrietta, Merrill; daughters Joanne Drew, Merrill; and Janice (Frank Yasunaga) Gulke, Indianapolis, Ind.; sons Allan (Diane) and Dennis (Connie), both of Merrill; and Brian (Sharon), Custer; step-daughters Lou-Marie (Ronnie) Barbero and Christina (Oliver) Arcangel, both of the Philippines; step-son Erwin Jay (Angela) Pacia, Buena Park, Calif.; grandchildren Nathan, Bradley, Kyle, Sadie, Shavon, Nickolas, Jesse and Max; great-grandchildren Carter William, Noah and Carter Steven; and step-grandsons Mauie, Nonel, Lian and Christian. Also surviving are sisters, Jean Grove, Charlotte Hodge and Katheryn Gulke; and brothers, Hubert, Edward and David. He was preceded in death by sisters, Helen Raisler and Shirley Leiz and brother, Richard.

Funeral services are 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 24, at the Waid Funeral Home, Merrill. Rev. James Horath will officiate. Burial will be in St. Paul's Cemetery, Town of Pine River. Visitation will be Thursday morning from 9-11 a.m. at the funeral home.

Every submission is pretected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission. Become a Linoln County, Wis. Volunteer Report Broken Links

A site created and maintained by the Lincoln County, Wis Volunteers. Webmaster: Crystal Wendt Lincoln County, Wis History Home Page