Walter O. Jones

Overlooking the land he loved and in the presence of his children, Walter O. Jones passed away peacefully at home on June 5, 2022. He was 90.

Born January 26, 1932 in Mankato, Walt grew up in Lake Crystal and graduated with the “Infamous Class of 1950” from Lake Crystal High School. He attended the University of Minnesota – where he sang in the University Chorus – and completed his bachelor’s degree at Winona State University.

Walt joined the United States Army in 1953 and served most of his duty in what was then the Alaska Territory. He earned his master’s degree at Mankato State University. He taught English and humanities in Janesville and Stillwater before spending nearly three decades at the high school in New Ulm, where the mention of his name earned awe and trepidation decades after his retirement in 1990.

In retirement, Walt communed with nature at spartan cabins on Rainy Lake and in New York Mills. He traveled to Welsh music festivals, pursued genealogy, and shared his time and environmental passions with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His letters to the editor were well known to the readers of newspapers in Mankato, Lake Crystal and New Ulm.

Fiercely proud of his Welsh and Finnish heritage, Walt loved literature, classical music and the natural world…but most of all his family. He is survived by his brother, Mervin; son, Clifford (Kathy); daughters, Mary (Dominic Papatola) and Helen (William Butler); seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. They are grateful to the caring staff at St. Croix Hospice. And together, they celebrate the life of a man who lamented the degradation of the planet and politics, but never lost his love for what he found beautiful in life.

Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 10, 2022 at the Northview – North Mankato Mortuary, 2060 Commerce Drive, North Mankato. Visitation will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at the funeral home and will continue for one hour prior to the service on Friday. Interment will be at Cambria Cemetery, Blue Earth County. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to https://freshwater.org/ or https://www.sierraclub.org/.