Blaine Wallin, 88, of Dalbo, passed away on Monday, Oct. 17, 2016, at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
Blaine Wallin was born on Sept. 10, 1928, in Walbo, Minn., to Oscar and Mabel (Torell) Wallin. Blaine was the ninth child out of 11 and attended Walbo Country School until the ninth grade. Although Blaine did not have a lot of time for fun, we were surprised to learn recently that as a young boy, he played hockey at a small pond near their farm. Blaine told us he played goalie because he could not skate very well. For shin pads, he tied large Sears catalogs to his shins.
Blaine’s mother died of breast cancer when Blaine was 16. Shortly after that time, he quit school to earn money to help with the family. Blaine drove a team of his dad’s horses while working at a logging camp near Dalbo. He later hitchhiked to North Dakota and picked potatoes with his kid brother. Later he hitchhiked to downtown Minneapolis to work as a runner for the paper. While he was on a break, Mr. Hage (from Hage Concrete) asked him if he wanted a job. So Blaine became a laborer and started his career in construction.
In 1950, Blaine met Phyllis Lundahl at a dance at Spectacle Lake. He was drafted in 1950 as one of the first draftees of the Korean War, and after three months of basic training, returned home to marry Phyllis in November of 1950. Blaine then took a “troop train” to San Francisco and from there a ship to Korea where he spent almost two years. During that time, he received a cable from the Red Cross telling him that his daughter Connie had been born. Throughout his tour in Korea, Blaine was involved in many battles and sustained wounds that earned him a Purple Heart, which he displayed very proudly.
Blaine returned home in 1952 and joined Jesco Co., a concrete and masonry business and remained there for over 40 years, retiring as a brick foreman. It is rare to go more than a few blocks in the Twin Cities without seeing a building that Blaine worked on.
Shortly after leaving the service, Blaine purchased a one-acre lot in Brooklyn Park and found a small home for sale in Osseo, which they moved onto the lot. Over time, as they expanded their family to three girls and one boy, they added a basement, a garage, a large dormer and two additional bedrooms.
Over the next several years, Blaine and Phyllis purchased a lot on Perry Lake, near Crosby, where the family roughed it with a very small trailer and a large tent. They sold that lot and then purchased a small cabin and guest cottage near Mille Lacs Lake. Later, Blaine and Phyllis saw a for sale sign on a lot, with a two bedroom trailer, right on Mille Lacs Lake. They decided to “trade-up,” so they sold the cabin and guest cottage and purchased the lake property, where the family spent several fun summers. Eventually, Blaine and Phyllis found a farmstead near Day which they purchased and where they spent their weekends and vacations farming, while staying in a tiny camper.
When Blaine retired from Jesco in 1996, they sold their house in Minneapolis and began building the house on the farmstead that Blaine had spent years designing. His pride and joy was the large kitchen and pantry he designed for Phyllis.
During retirement, Blaine and Phyllis traveled a bit, going up to Park Rapids, Chokio, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Florida (where, with Russ and Joyce Lee, they mistakenly boarded the Thunder Mountain Railroad ride instead of the Walt Disney World Railroad Train), Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, St Louis and San Antonio, where they attended a Korean War reunion. They also purchased a two-bedroom park model home in Arizona where they spent several winters.
Blaine retired from farming in 2009, but retained his land and equipment. When Phyllis, his wife of 63 years, passed away in February 2014, Blaine was heartbroken and struggled a bit to find his new role. In November of 2015, he was diagnosed with a faulty heart valve and had replacement surgery, which was very successful. As his daughter was arriving to bring him home, Blaine suffered a brain bleed and was not able to return to the farm until January 2016. With the wonderful assistance of his Visiting Angels (Karen, Dawn, Shauna, Kathy, Sarah) Blaine was able to live at the farm until late June, when he suffered another brain bleed and had been in and out of the hospital until his death on Monday, Oct. 17.
Blaine was preceded in death by his wife, Phyllis, his parents, brothers Lawrence, Kermit, Marvin, Clifford, and Walden; and sisters Bernice Larson, Laverne Larson Swanson, and Frances Bergdahl.
Blaine is survived by his children, Connie Lee (Kent), Greg, Julie Englund (Tim), Patty Conlon (Craig), four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren; also sisters Joyce Tessmer (Don), and Norma Jean Ziebarth. Also survived by many friends and other relatives.
Most of all, Blaine was a great man who will be forever remembered for his strong character and quiet generosity. He will be truly missed by all who knew him.
A funeral service was held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 2016, at Salem Lutheran Church of Dalbo. Interment was in the church cemetery. Online condolences at www.carlsonlillemoen.com. Arrangements were with the Carlson-Lillemoen Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Cambridge.
