Walter "Pete" W. Wallrichs

Walter “Pete” William Wallrichs, 77, passed away peacefully at his home in Council Bluffs on October 26, 2019, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Pete was born November 13, 1941, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He spent his first fourteen years on a farm outside of Manson, Iowa, before moving to town, where he attended and graduated from Johnson Township Consolidated High School (Barnum, Iowa) in 1959. He married his wife, Elaine Bunting in 1960, and together raised their four children in Council Bluffs.

Pete was a hard worker, holding a variety of jobs through high school – at the teen dance hall, at a bakery and every future father-in-law’s dream, the carnival. Pete then joined the Air Force where he would serve four years stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska. With the training he received in the service, he would go on to work for National Cash Register for more than thirty-six years and another seven years at First National Bank, a customer of his that was not ready to let him go. Pete officially retired in 2007, spending his retirement years in Council Bluffs and Fort Dodge where he was an active member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Callender, Iowa.

Known for his sense of humor, Pete was always one to quickly connect with the people he met. Whether it was a joke, a story or a prank, he could always be counted on for a laugh to lighten the mood whatever the situation.

Pete’s time away from work was spent at the campgrounds around western Iowa, with fellow members of the Holiday Hobos and Chigger Diggers Camping Clubs. He loved to tinker with things and when he wasn’t camping, he could be found redesigning and re-engineering his perfectly good camper, arguably making it better than when it came off the line. This same philosophy applied to everything he did, whether it was a tool, a toy, his computer, or his car.

Survivors include his wife, Elaine (Bunting) Wallrichs; daughters, Patricia (Jeff) Schoening of Treynor, Iowa, Marcia (Vince) Pomerleau of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and son, Dave (Brenda) Wallrichs of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; sister, JoAnn (Ben) Egli of Des Moines, Iowa; fifteen grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Bernhard and Kathe, his brothers Alvin, Bernie and John, and daughter, Pam Johnson-Turner.

Memorial contributions may be directed to EveryStep Hospice or Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church (Callender, Iowa).