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Longtime public servant Richard “Dick” Wambeke, passed away this past Tuesday at his home in Granite Falls. Family members said his long battle with cancer ended peacefully in his sleep with his wife Janet holding his hand bedside. He had spent the last week with family members after returning home from the Mayo Clinic on hospice care.
Wambeke, 71, aided countless individuals as Yellow Medicine County Family Service Director from 1978 through 2002. He was entering into the second year of his second term as a Yellow Medicine County Commissioner after his original election in 2007. He also served two stints on the Granite Falls City Council from July 1997 to December 1998 and November 2002 to December 2006.
Colleagues said that he was a respected councilman, commissioner, boss and friend and that his sense of humor and compassion for others were some of his strongest character traits.
Present YMC Family Service Director Peggy Heglund worked with Wambeke from 1979 until his retirement, and then again when he took upon the mantle of commissioner.
“If you talk to county staff, they’ll all tell you he’s just a great guy,” she said. “We all get into this field because we care about people, but Dick was an exceptional client advocate. The passion and compassion he had for people was very notable.”
YMC Social Services Supervisor for Children’s Services Mary Potter, who had worked with Wambeke since the 80s, said that as a boss he was there to lift you up when there was a success and to pick you up when there had been a stumbling block.
“He had a good sense of humor and was just a positive influence to be around,” she said. “He was someone to look up to, and I just wish I was more like him ... He will be missed.”
Family members expressed their thanks for an abundance of well wishes, thoughts and prayers throughout Wambeke’s hospital stay and over the course of the past week. It was said his final days with his family could not have been nicer.
Wambeke was born in 1941 to parents Ferdinand and Margaret on a farm north of Minneota. He had nine brothers and sisters. After graduating from Minneota High School in 1959, he served three years in the US Army before attending Mankato State University where he obtained a degree in Social Services.
Moving to Marshall, he spent 10 years as a social worker before accepting the role of Family Service Director locally. He is survived by his wife and three children –– Brad, Scott and Dawn –– as well as his nine brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. A full obituary appears on page 4B.
Longtime public servant Richard “Dick” Wambeke, passed away this past Tuesday at his home in Granite Falls. Family members said his long battle with cancer ended peacefully in his sleep with his wife Janet holding his hand bedside. He had spent the last week with family members after returning home from the Mayo Clinic on hospice care.
Wambeke, 71, aided countless individuals as Yellow Medicine County Family Service Director from 1978 through 2002. He was entering into the second year of his second term as a Yellow Medicine County Commissioner after his original election in 2007. He also served two stints on the Granite Falls City Council from July 1997 to December 1998 and November 2002 to December 2006.
Colleagues said that he was a respected councilman, commissioner, boss and friend and that his sense of humor and compassion for others were some of his strongest character traits.
Present YMC Family Service Director Peggy Heglund worked with Wambeke from 1979 until his retirement, and then again when he took upon the mantle of commissioner.
“If you talk to county staff, they’ll all tell you he’s just a great guy,” she said. “We all get into this field because we care about people, but Dick was an exceptional client advocate. The passion and compassion he had for people was very notable.”
YMC Social Services Supervisor for Children’s Services Mary Potter, who had worked with Wambeke since the 80s, said that as a boss he was there to lift you up when there was a success and to pick you up when there had been a stumbling block.
“He had a good sense of humor and was just a positive influence to be around,” she said. “He was someone to look up to, and I just wish I was more like him ... He will be missed.”
Family members expressed their thanks for an abundance of well wishes, thoughts and prayers throughout Wambeke’s hospital stay and over the course of the past week. It was said his final days with his family could not have been nicer.
Wambeke was born in 1941 to parents Ferdinand and Margaret on a farm north of Minneota. He had nine brothers and sisters. After graduating from Minneota High School in 1959, he served three years in the US Army before attending Mankato State University where he obtained a degree in Social Services.
Moving to Marshall, he spent 10 years as a social worker before accepting the role of Family Service Director locally. He is survived by his wife and three children –– Brad, Scott and Dawn –– as well as his nine brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. A full obituary appears on page 4B.
