Walter Robert Meissner Jr.
Dec 30, 1936 – July 23, 2021
Walter Robert Meissner Jr. of Eden Prairie passed away on July 23, 2021 at the age of 84, after battling pancreatic cancer. He was surrounded by his wife and family, and the loving arms of God. A memorial service was held on Monday, August 2 at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie with memorial donations requested for Compassion International or Samaritan’s Purse.
Born in Chicago on Dec. 30, 1936, Wally grew up in Hibbing, MN, and Rush City where he was a star in four sports. His scholarship football career at Dartmouth was cut short by injury, however. He completed his higher education at the University of Minnesota, ultimately earning his MA in Music in 1961.
Wally sang his entire life, played trombone, participated in and directed various church, professional, and community choirs throughout Minnesota. He taught music in public school and college for many years in Osseo, Virginia, Anoka-Ramsey, Gilbert, Aurora, at Blake School, Centennial High School, Crown College, and Cedarville College in Ohio. In 1972, his love of music and entrepreneurial instincts combined to create Meissner Piano Service. For forty-nine years he tuned pianos in the Twin Cities and throughout the state for hundreds of customers, many of whom became friends.
He traveled extensively with his wife Lois throughout the US, Caribbean, and Great Britain, with an amazing 26 trips to Alaska where the halibut and salmon trembled at the sight of his Tilley hat and fishing line. The hours he spent with family and friends at the cabin he built at Elbow Lake, basking in the rustic beauty of God’s creation, were surely the best of his life. He is survived by his wife, an aunt and three brothers, three daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.