Wallace Rutkowski

Wallace "Wally" Rutkowski, age 80, of Woodbury, MN, and formerly of Gully, MN, passed away on Thursday (July 7th) at Woodbury Health Care Center in Woodbury. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday (July 16th) at Lund Lutheran Church in Gully with Pastor Michael Sletto officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held for one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the church. Military honors will be provided by Gully American Legion Post #603 and arrangements are with the Carlin-Hoialmen Funeral Home of Fosston. Messages of condolence may be sent at carlinhoialmen.com.Wallace Eugene Rutkowski was born on August 29, 1930 in Fosston, Minnesota to parents Peter and Esther (Strande) Rutkowski. Wally was raised in Gully, Minnesota where he attended grade school. He graduated from Fosston High School and holds a BA in Business Administration from Bemidji State University.  He proudly served in the Korean War on board the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier experiencing many parts of the world.  While serving in the Navy he invested in some undeveloped land just North of Gully.  After leaving the Navy Wally married Shirley Dell Dewberry from Brewton, Alabama then ultimately joining and retiring from the First National Bank of St. Paul.  While working at the bank he would leave the bank Friday and head north to work alongside his father Peter Rutkowski in the fields.  Then Sunday afternoon he would return home to Oakdale, Minnesota and start the routine over again Monday morning. Wally was always passionate about the town of Gully, it's people and the farm.  He spent as much time as possible at the farm where he loved to just sit and view the beauty of the land, it's nature and dream of it's potential.  If he wasn't at the farm itself he was very likely to be seen driving the surrounding area talking to people and generally preaching the goodness of Gully. Deer Hunting was a special time for Wally who always looked forward to the family getting together for the annual hunt and reliving the hunts of the past like when he and his dad Pete would sleep in an old army tent with a group of friends looking for venison to put on the table.  One of these hunts bagged an especially large trophy buck that still ranks high in the state record books.Wally passed away on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at Woodbury Health Care Center in Woodbury at the age of 80 years. Survivors include his wife, Shirley, of Woodbury, MN; two sons, Keith (Sharon) Rutkowski of Woodbury, MN, and Kenneth Rutkowski (significant other, Lorelei Wiechert) and family; three grandchildren, Lisa (Mike) Nagel and their son, Tyler, of Woodbury, MN, Steven (Lisa) Rutkowski and their daughter, Kendall, of Lake Elmo, MN, and Jeffrey Rutkowski of Austin, TX; one brother, Robert (Marlene) Rutkowski of Minnetonka, MN; and sister, Viona (Howard) Johnson of Mesa, AZ. Nieces, nephews and other relatives also surviveHe was preceded in death by his parents.