What happened to Walter

Walter John Wolters was born in Swan River Township, Morrison County, Minnesota on December 3, 1913. His parents, George and Karin Wolters, lived on a small farm in Swan River Township, about 2 miles north of Elmdale, Minnesota. Walter was the 8th of 11 children in the Wolters family. His grandparents, Hans and Anna Catherine Wolthers Hansen and Hans and Dorthea Rasmussen, lived and farmed nearby as did numerous other extended family members.

Walter and his entire family were part of the congregation at The Danish Lutheran Church in Elmdale. The pastor often referred to Walter and his younger brothers Nels and Noah as the "Larsen Boys", in reference to Karin's remarriage to Hans Larsen following George's death in 1927. At that time, Walter, 14, and Nels, 12, were close.

Walter is wearing a black hat just behind his brother Nels in this family photograph.

At age 28 Walter married Beatrice Dickson on March 3, 1942, in the community of Vawter, Minnesota. Near Royalton, Vawter is separated from the Wolters farm by about 15 miles of farmland and the Mississippi River. The young couple lived at the home of Beatrice's parents near Vawter. They had no children.

Walter volunteered for military service in February or March of 1943. He contracted meningitis at Jefferson Barracks, St Louis, Missouri and died March 14, 1943. He is buried with a military headstone in a corner of the Dickson family plot at Riverside Cemetery in Royalton, Minnesota.