Walter Chester Jarecki, Jr.

Services for Walter can be viewed at (UPDATED)     https://youtu.be/AbdmDiiiP7c

Walter Chester Jarecki Jr., 79, of Lake Vermillion, Tower, Minnesota, passed away on January 2, 2022, at Essentia Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.

Walter was born on April 1, 1942, to Walter Chester Jarecki Sr. and Alvina Zubik in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in the Kamerling neighborhood of northwest Chicago with his two sisters. It was here that he met his childhood sweetheart and best friend, Mary Margaret Kempert. Walter graduated from Lane Tech High School in 1960. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and served in Minot, ND from 1961-1965 as a Weapons Specialist, Airman 1st Class.

On August 17, 1963, Walter married Mary Margaret Kempert at St. Philomena Catholic Church, in a Polish neighborhood in northwestern Chicago. After his military service, Walter and Mary moved back to Chicago to raise their five children. He worked as a machinist at Stewart-Warner, an American manufacturer of vehicle instruments gauges and lubricating equipment.

In 1977, Walter and Mary followed their dreams by moving their family to northern Minnesota, where they purchased Pine Trees Resort on Lake Vermillion. The resort continues to operate today after 43 years, providing the family with many memories and lifelong friendships.  To keep busy during the winters of 1978 to 1982, Walter worked as a field millwright for US Steel MinnTac.

In 1984, he and Mary purchased the famous Y-Store, located at the junction of county road 77 and MN highways 169 and 1, near Tower, MN.  The Y-Store supplied tourists and local residents’ gas, bait, groceries, and souvenirs, but was best known for its hand scooped ice cream cones and shakes. Walter and Mary sold the Y-Store in 2002 to “semi-retire”.

Walter is survived by his wife Mary of 58 years, their five children: Walter (Nancy) Jarecki, David (Martina) Jarecki, Mary (Daniel) Voss, Susan (Timothy) Dondelinger, and Catherine (Michael) Shelton, 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, sisters Alice Burgston and Janet (Carl) Mazur, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents. He was a member of St. Martin Catholic Church in Tower, Minnesota.

A memorial Mass will be held on February 19, 2022, at 11am with a visitation one hour prior at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, 702 Beltrami Ave. NW, Bemidji, Minnesota 56601.  A private family interment is planned for the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii.

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