Clyde Otis Wagner passed away surrounded by his loving family on Monday, October 23, 2017 at Bloomfield Healthcare in rural Dodgeville. Clyde was born on May 6, 1921 to Lloyd and Nellie Bishop Wagner on the Wagner farm in Wingville Township, Livingston. Clyde’s mother died when he was 10 years old so he lived with his sister and her husband on the Wagner farm where he helped milk cows by hand, herded cows to grazing on horse, led the horse to the hay during threshing and harvested wood for the house. Clyde attended the New California Grade School, a one-room school near Livingston. He graduated from the Livingston High School in 1938, where he was quarterback on their football team. While in high school, he worked at his father’s machine shop where he assembled cultivators. After graduation from high school, Clyde drove truck for Becker and Tuckwood. He met Marjorie (Marge) Mae Nelson at a Fennimore dance and they were married on January 13, 1942 and celebrated 65 years together before she died in 2007.
In 1944, Clyde was drafted into the service and on January 1st, 1945, Clyde and his company, 3rd Infantry Division, Company L, left New York City on the Queen Mary and landed in Glasgow, Scotland. His company was assigned with the Seventh French Army to a location along the border of Germany and Switzerland. On the night of February 5th, 1945, while hiking through a village in Germany, a shell landed among the company of soldiers. Clyde was severely wounded in the leg from shrapnel and several soldiers, American and French, were killed. Due to his wounding during a military action against the United States, Clyde was awarded three awards: the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal ribbon with a bronze star and the Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) with a bronze palm, a French military decoration to honor those who fought with the Allies against the Axis force during the Second World War. Clyde’s recent participation in Honor Flight was a special event for him and his son, Jim, who accompanied him.
After Clyde returned from service, he attended Platteville Mining School (now called the University of Wisconsin-Platteville) for two years with a focus on engineering. Marge taught school while Clyde attended college. About 1950, Clyde and Marge decided to “go farming”. At first, they rented a small farm outside Mineral Point, WI. They then purchased a farm outside Livingston in the 1950’s and eventually farmed well over 2,000 acres and milked about 100 registered Holstein cows. Marge and Clyde received numerous awards and recognition for their contributions to the Holstein Association, as well as many trophies and ribbons at numerous fairs and dairy over the years.
Marge and Clyde enjoyed traveling which included visits to 14 countries and many states in the U.S. A trip to Norway for their 50th wedding anniversary was a highlight for them. They especially enjoyed visiting the Western U.S. and attended the Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Calgary Stampede during their travels. Marge and Clyde also traveled to many states and Canada, purchasing Registered Holstein cattle for their herd and made annual trips to Livingston, Montana to purchase Angus beef for their feedlot. From 1984 to 2002, Marge and Clyde spent winters at Lake Havasu, Arizona where they enjoyed bus trips to Laughlin, NV. They also enjoyed watching their grandchildren and great-grandchildren compete in school, 4-H and sports.
Clyde was a husband, father, friend, farmer, card player, keno player, and horticulturalist. He loved growing corn and excelled at having straight corn rows. After he retired from farming, he kept an immaculate lawn that a weed did not dare grow in or rabbits try to enter! In his later years, he enjoyed eating ice cream and Friday night fish, playing dice, and visiting with his friends at Alley Oops in Livingston. He also loved Western movies and TV especially John Wayne movies and Gunsmoke. Clyde was a member of the Castle Rock Lutheran Church. He lived at home in Livingston until May, 2016 when he moved to Crestridge Assisted Living.
Clyde is survived by his 8 children, David (Evelyn), Surprise, AZ.; Gary(Judi), Newbury Park, CA; Cheryl (John) Peterson, Surprise, AZ, Janel (Robert) Lapanja, El Dorado Hills, CA; Mary Jo, Mineral Point; Deb (Bruce) Ivey, Mineral Point; Judy (Harold) Reddy, Livingston; and James, Mineral Point; 16 grandchildren, Michelle Wagner, Dr. Amy Wagner, Allison Wagner, Chris (Heather) Wagner, Annette (John) McClelland, Melissa (Eric) Thering, Jennifer Sanders, Jeffrey (Haley) Peterson, Angela (Ron) Dulay, BJ (Nicole) Lapanja, Teresa Bullock, Maggie (Jeff) O’Leary, Jessie (Justin) Potterton, Chase (Kami) Ivey, Erin (Caleb) Wolff, Heather (Earl) McLean, 28+ great-grandchildren: Sophia and Leo Hernandez, Serena and Destyn Wagner, Stephanie and Natalie McClelland, Jackson, Joslyn and Mia Thering, Ava Sanders, Jack, Henry and Violet Peterson, Hannah, Jordan, Jack, Malia and Alex Lapanja, Maddie, Gabriella and Kaegan O’Leary, Atley, Carver and Dekker Potterton, Ella, Harrison and Weston Wolff, Kendall Peterson, and Baby Ivey due in January and a great-great-grandchild, Isla Rose Wagner. He is also survived by a special niece, Carol Thomas, his brother-in-law, Robert Fett as well as numerous nieces and nephews, friends and neighbors. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie, his parents, his step-mother, Florence, his brother, Lloyd, Jr., his sisters, Dorothy Bourett and Mary Yelinek, two infant brothers, his brothers-in-law, Clyde Bourett and Homer Yelinek, his sisters-in-law, Betty Wagner and Ruth Wagner, and his daughter-in-law, Maxine Wagner.
The family would like to thank the remarkable staffs at Upland Hills Hospice, Bloomfield Health Care, Crestridge Assisted Living and the Veterans Hospital for their care and support.
Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017 at Castle Rock Lutheran Church in Hickory Grove Township, Grant County, WI with burial to follow at the Rock Church Cemetery in Clifton Township, rural Livingston, WI. Visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 P.M. on Monday evening Oct. 30, 2017 at the Soman-Larson Funeral Home in Montfort and from 11:00 A.M. until the time of service at the church on Tuesday morning. In lieu of plants and flowers, a memorial fund is being established in loving memory of Clyde O. Wagner.