Michael Wagner

Michael J. Wagner, 71, Las Vegas, NV, formerly of Victor, SD, passed away April 27, 2016, at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas after a brief illness.

Funeral services will be Friday, June 10, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at Walla Lutheran Church in rural New Effington, SD, with Rev. Suzanne Benidt officiating. Music will be provided by organist Karen Edlund.

Inurnment will be in the Walla Lutheran Church Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Read Veflin American Legion Post 180 of New Effington.

Visitation will be Friday one hour prior to the service at the church.

Michael John Wagner was born on December 1, 1944, to Math and Mavis Wagner. He grew up in Victor, SD, where he attended grade school and then went on to Rosholt High School, graduating in 1962. He attended Walla Lutheran Church with his family where he was baptized and confirmed.

Mike enjoyed sports in high school and was a pitcher for the local American Legion baseball team and later traveled around Europe playing softball with the Air Force.

On December 28, 1962, Mike enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He served for four years and was stationed in Turkey for part of that time in the security service intercepting Morse code. While stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1963, he was able to travel to Washington, DC, to see President John F. Kennedy's funeral procession. He was honorably discharged December 27, 1966.

After graduating from Control Data Institute in Minneapolis, Michael worked in the computer field for many years in California, Florida, and Virginia. He later moved to Las Vegas where he worked as a security guard before retiring.

Michael married Cecelia Faulkner in February of 1967. They later divorced. On Michael's birthday, December 1, 1972, he married Dora Hernandez. To this union a baby boy, Christopher Michael, was born on January 26, 1974, his grandmother's birthday. Mike and Dora eventually divorced. Later Michael married Joyce Harrison in 1980.

Survivors include his brothers, Tom (Harriet) Wagner of Rosholt, SD, and Dale Wagner of Champlin, MN; sisters, Mary Peterson of Moorhead, MN, Patsy (Elroy) Klein of Rosholt; seven nieces and nephews; aunts, Helen Johnson and Karen (LeRoy) Edlund; and numerous cousins.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents; stepfather, Lawrence Wagner; his grandparents; and numerous aunts and uncles.