Walter Hendrickson of Kingston, died Saturday, Feb. 7, 2004, at the V.A. Medical Center in St. Cloud. He was 80. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at the Good Shepherd Free Lutheran Church in Cokato with Rev. Lyndon Korhonen and Rev. Orval Wirkkala officiating. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Johnson Funeral Home in Dassel and one hour prior to the service Friday at the church. A prayer service will be at 7:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. Walter William Hendrickson was born Feb. 10, 1923, in Kingston Township, Meeker County, to John and Lydia V. (Koski) Hendrickson. He grew up on the family farm and helped with the farm chores. Walter attended rural schools in Kingston Township and graduated from Kimball High School. After high school, Walter worked in Minneapolis until he was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 25, 1943. He served as a combat infantryman in the campaigns of northern France. When he returned from military duty in April 1946, he worked at Munsingware in Minneapolis. He moved to Detroit, Mich., to work in 1955. Walter was united in marriage with Verna Tikkanen in Detroit Nov. 3, 1956. Together they made their home in Detroit until 1972 when they moved to Berkley, Mich., and Walter started a career as a mould maker in the plastic pattern division of General Motors. When he retired from General Motors in 1994, Walter and Verna moved to Kingston. He enjoyed the seven winters he and Verna spent in the Arizona sun after his retirement. Walter’s family, his friends and his roots were very important to him, especially having his family together and then his retirement years in Kingston. Walter had been baptized as an infant and later confirmed at the Apostolic Lutheran Church in Kingston. He was now a member of the Good Shepherd Free Lutheran Church in Cokato. He enjoyed his garden, and he liked to spend time fishing for those big sunnies. Walter was preceded in death by his brothers Nathan, Levi, Harold, Herman, Marvin and Kenneth Hendrickson, and his sisters Martha Ruopsa, Elsie Maikkula, Rachael Dahlstrom and Helena Anderson. He is survived by his wife Verna; sons Steven (and Mary) Hendrickson of Dollar Bay, Mich.; Neal (and Cheryl) Hendrickson of Hancock, Mich.; Paul Hendrickson of Kingston; and Aaron (and Renee) Hendrickson of Cokato; daughters Vickie (and Robert) Bullock of Berkley, Mich.; Valerie (and Todd) Calhoun of Madison Heights, Mich.; and Pamela Hendrickson of Berkley, Mich.; brother Heimer (and Mildred) Hendrickson of Kingston; and 14 grandchildren. Special music was provided by soloist Sheldon Hedin singing “How Great Thou Art,” and organist Lynda Korhonen. Casket bearers were Walter’s sons Steven, Neal, Paul and Aaron Hendrickson, grandson Nicholas Bullock, and son-in-law Robert Bullock.
