Walter A. Bielenberg

Walter Allen “Wally” Bielenberg, 80, passed away on Monday, April 4, 2022, at MercyOne North Iowa Hospice. Wally had battled a lung disease (Bronchiectasis) for many years. During the last six years he did all he could to live a full life, never complaining as he received his daily treatments. 

A Celebration of Life was held on Tuesday April 12, at Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, with Pastor Melinda McCluskey from Galilean Lutheran Church officiating.

Visitation was held prior to the Celebration of Life at Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel. 

Services will also be held at Salem Lutheran Church, Dakota City, Neb., Friday, April 22, burial will follow at Taylor Cemetery in rural Hubbard, Neb. A visitation will be held at Salem Lutheran Church, Dakota City, from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, April 21.

Wally was born on Sept. 25, 1941, in Glidden, Iowa, to Thies Reinhold and Jessie (Legg) Bielenberg. Walter grew up on a farm in rural Dakota County, attending Heilman country school and graduating from South Sioux City High School in 1960. He had a love of cars, but not so much milking cows when he was young. He was trained as a mason or bricklayer in Master Builder’s five-year apprenticeship school in Sioux City. After graduating, he was a mason for Sulzbach Construction Co. in Sioux City. He worked for Bielenberg Construction for 20 years. During this time, he supervised the building of food processing plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. 

Wally married Joyce Anderson in South Sioux City in 1962. Their daughter, Cathy Lynn, was born Sept. 26, 1963, in Sioux City. Joyce passed away in 2005 and Cathy in 2011, both of cancer. He married DelRae Beermann in 2009 in Sioux City. 

Wally’s first superintendent work was building the Spencer Foods beef plant in Schuyler, Neb. He continued his building career as Superintendent of plants for Missouri Beef in Rockport, Mo., and IPB (now Tyson) in Dakota City and Madison, Neb., and Amarillo, Texas. The Amarillo plant required laying 800,000 blocks, and it was a driving distance of one mile around. They also built freezer plants in Amarillo. 

Returning to the Midwest, he and Joyce moved to Clear Lake, where he built the largest ham canning plant in the country (canning over 100 million pounds) in Britt, Iowa. He worked in Britt for 34 years. Wally was able to fish and relax a little while they owned and ran Wally’s Iron Works fitness center. Wally liked to keep busy, so after retirement, he worked for another 10 years as an OSHA safety specialist for EagleOne Solutions from Cedar, Iowa. During his working years, he also built their two homes in South Sioux City in 1963 and 1973.

Wally is survived by his wife, DelRae Beermann; sister, Marge (Bielenberg Schmidt) Moos, Lincoln; brothers, Paul Bielenberg, Lincoln, Ray and Teri (Georgeson) Bielenberg, Berthoud, Colo.; sister-in-law, Barb (Malmanger) Bielenberg, Sloan,Iowa; granddaughters, Ashley (Jaton) and Jason White, Omaha, Neb., and Allie (Jaton) and Christian Bickley, Overland Park, Kan.; great-granddaughters, Emerson and Blakeley White, Omaha; son-in-law, Edward and Kim Mills, Austin, Texas; step-grandchildren, Edward N. Mills and Ella (Mills) Peterson; aunt, Clara Jones, Suisun City, Calif.; cousin, Don (Sheryl) Bielenberg, Coon Rapids, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Joyce (2005); daughter, Cathy Mills (2011); and brother, Martin Bielenberg (2014); along with aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, was in charge of arrangements.