Walter Wiedbrauk, born May 31, 1925, a loving and loyal husband, daddy, grandpa, great grandpa and public servant, died in peace and with strength at 93 years of life on February 1, 2019 in Gulf Shores, Alabama with his wife Shirley and daughter Denise.
Son of Walter Fullerton Wiedbrauk and Myrtle Julia Smith and brother to Joyce, Nelson, Merton, Milton and Robert, Walt spent his early years on a farm, where he learned the value of family and hard work. After his WWII service, he joined the Michigan State Police in 1948 and was stationed at Ypsilanti and later Tawas, where he met Lois Delight Courier, whom he married on March 31, 1950 and with whom he had two daughters, Sheila Sue and Denise Eileen. Walt ever-supported Lois’ endeavors in education and art while he continued his public service posts in Niles and East Lansing, eventually finalizing the last seven years of his 26-year-long police career as an arson investigator, only to begin a second work life as Vice President of Special Transportation services for 15 years. In his retired life, he continued to travel with Lois to China, Spain, France, New Zealand, Canada and elsewhere in the United States and to spend winters in Gulf Shores, Alabama. After Lois suffered a stroke in 1999, Walt faithfully cared for her until her death in 2012 after 62 years of marriage.
Returning to Gulf Shores for his winters, Walt found the warmth of love once more with Shirley Lawrence, whom he wanted to share the rest of his life. They married on November 16, 2014 and enjoyed their many seconds and years since in romantic love and fun companionship.
Across his life, Walt was an arts and education supporter, a photographer, a videographer, a long walker, a road tripper, an ice-cream eater, an 18-hole golfer, an assistant gardener, a genealogist, a quilt and painting admirer, a sleepy snorer, a technology enthusiast, a baseball player and spectator, a project doer, a news watcher, a computer consumer, a cribbage and card player, a big bear hugger, a hand holder, a thank you winker, a gentle smiler, a black coffee drinker and a lover of both Michigan and Alabama waters, but most of all, he was a good man who served his family, state and country well and who was able to say that he had a good, long life and who was visited by all of his immediate family in his final days because of his goodness and their need to show and tell him so.
Ever calm and caring, he will be lovingly missed by his wife Shirley Wiedbrauk; daughters Sheila Adams, San Antonio, TX and Denise (Don) Slabaugh, Okemos, MI; grandchildren Cathryne (Wade) McNamara, Brandon (Benee) Adams, Heather Adams and Danielle Slabaugh; great-grandchildren Brylen Adams and Lucia and Elliot McNamara; and brother Robert (Karen) Wiedbrauk.
Memorial services will be held 10:30 AM Saturday, June 15, 2019 at The Peoples Church with visitation half hour prior. He will rest at Glendale Cemetery, Okemos. Contributions may be made to Michigan State Troopers Assistance Fund (http://www.troopers-care.org/ or http://www.mspta.net/mstaf/donations/) in memory of Walt’s life.
The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 East Grand River, East Lansing.
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