Wallace Pretzer

Wallace E. Pretzer, age

88, of Sartell, MN died

Thursday, August 18,

2022 at Good Shepherd

Lutheran Home, Sauk Ra-

pids, Mn.

Memorial service will

be at 11:00 AM on Tues-

day August 30th at Cele-

bration Lutheran Church,

1500 Pinecone Road

North, Sartell, Mn. Visita-

tion will be on Monday,

August 29th at 4:00-7:00

PM at Benson Funeral

Home, St. Cloud and one

hour prior to the service

at the church on Tuesday.

Wallace Edward

Pretzer was born October

8, 1933, in Velva, North

Dakota to Ernest and Alda

(Johnson). He grew up on

a farm near Velva. Wally

graduated from Velva

High School in 1951.

After college at Minot

State he taught in Antler,

ND. His second year he

was appointed Superin-

tendent at age of 22, mak-

ing him the youngest su-

perintendent in ND and

the only superintendent

to be drafted! He served

the US Army from

1957-59. Wallace met

Shari at UNCO and they

married August 28, 1959

in Washta, Iowa. Wally

was employed as Princi-

pal at Bricelyn High

School (MN) and Maple-

ton High School (MN). In

1965 Wally started as an

assistant principal at

South Junior High (St.

Cloud), then in 1983 he

moved to TECH, St. Cloud

Technical High School

(St. Cloud) to be Princi-

pal.

After retiring in 1991,

Wally enjoyed time at the

family cabin on Inguado-

na Lake, Longville, MN. In

1995, he and Shari began

their trek to Florida.

There they enjoyed golf,

visiting the sites in Flori-

da, entertaining family

and friends. Wallace en-

joyed fishing, golfing

(three hole-in-one’s), pho-

tography, stain glass, trav-

eling and reading.

For over 40 years, he

treasured his coffee crew

at the Green Mill. Also,

his times and tales spent

with fishing buddies go-

ing to Canada, Alaska and

Minnesota.

Wally especially en-

joyed his life at the lake

with family visiting from

all over the country.

He enjoyed many

conversations and was

known for his wit and sar-

casm.

He was a member of

the National and Min-

nesota High School Prin-

cipals Associations, St.

Cloud Chamber of Com-

merce and St. Cloud

Friends of the Library.

Wally was a member of

Bethlehem and Atone-

ment Lutheran Church

(St. Cloud), Salem (Long-

ville) and presently a

member of Celebration

Lutheran Church, Sartell,

MN.

The past fifteen years,

Wallace struggled with

Parkinson’s Disease.

The family would like

to thank St. Cloud Centra

Care Hospice unit, the

Melrose Centra Care Facil-

ity and Good Shepherd

Nursing Home (Silver Bay

House) for their compas-

sion and care of our dad,

grand-dad and husband.

In lieu of flowers, the

family wishes donations

toward Scholarships for

Technical High School,

and the Celebration En-

dowment Fund.

Survivors include his

wife, Shari, Sartell; son

Eric, Sartell; daughter,

Nanci, New Mexico’

grandchildren, Noah and

Zoe, Sartell; sister, Bonny

Pretzer Groshong (Lee),

Oregon; sister-in-law, Pat

Seright Pretzer, (Arlo) Ply-

mouth; brother-in-laws:

Lanny (Pat) Gray, Illinois;

Bill (Marlis) Gray, Iowa;

Jim (Marcy) Gray, Colora-

do; and. many nieces,

nephews, cousins and

friends.

Wallace was preceded

in death by his parents,

brother Arlo; sister, Al-

mira (Pretzer) Strate;

niece, Rhonda (Pretzer)

Willenbring; nephews

Dean Strate and Kelley

Gray; brother-in-laws, Lar-

ry Strate and Lee

Groshong; and in-laws,

Russell and Louise

(Torrey) Gray.