John
A. Waage, 91
Sun
City, Calif. - John A. Waage, 91, died June 18
at his home in Sun City, Calif.
A
memorial service was held on June 24 at the Sun
City Baptist Church of which John was a builder.
Interment will be held at the family plot at
Greenwood Cemetery in Thief River Falls.
John
was best known as a creative, but non-commercial
inventor. When he was a teenager living in his
hometown of Thief River Falls, he made a diving
bell from a steel heater tank that he successfully
used to dive in the Thief River to search for lost
treasure. Later he built one of the first 15-foot
plywood house trailers in his backyard at 408 State
Ave. N. He used this trailer to travel west. There
were many other contraptions and inventions along
the way.
He
wrote and published a book of his life at age 86
titled, "What I Saw," which sold several thousand
copies.
John
worked for both Gamble Skogmo and Western Auto as a
zone superintendent, setting up new stores in the
west. He spent most of his retirement years living
in Sun City, Calif.
John
was born in Thief River Falls, Jan. 24, 1913 to
John A. and Amanda (Andreasen) Waage. His wife,
Esther Westin, of Crosby, preceded him in death.
They had two children, John Arlos of San Antonio,
Texas and Diane Dupuy of Sun City, Calif.; four
grand children and 10 great-grandchildren. One
great-great-grandchild is soon to be born.
In
addition to his two children, John is survived by
one sister, Pearl Martinek and brother Alton R.
Waage of Sun City, Calif; and one brother, Donald
Waage of Minnetonka. A00003B2004JN30
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