Richard "Snapper" Valesano

Memorial Mass for Richard Peter “Snapper” Valesano Sr., 86, of Hoyt Lakes, will be 11am Friday, January 6, 2017 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Hoyt Lakes with Fr. Peter Lambert as celebrant. There will be no visitation prior to the mass. Inurnment will be at a later date in the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Arrangements by Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home in Aurora. He died Monday, January 2, 2017 at Essentia Health – St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minnesota. Richard was born March 21, 1930 in Wakefield, Michigan to Peter and Mary (Cassidy) Valesano. He attended school in Wakefield and enlisted with the US Marines during the Korean Conflict. On September 25, 1954 he married Mary Ann Godlewski. Snapper worked as a locomotive engineer for Erie Mining Company. He retired from LTV Steel in 1983. Snapper was a Life Member of the Hoyt Lakes VFW #8144 and a Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans. He was a member of Queen of Peace Catholic Church, the Aurora American Legion Post #241, the Hoyt Lakes Volunteer Fire Department which he retired from, and the National Rifle Association. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and deer hunting with his grandsons. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann; children: Richard Jr. of Hermantown, Judith Ann (Jon) Hicks of Grand Rapids and Michael of Duluth; grandchildren: Rachel and Amie Valesano, Cooper and Conner Valesano and Jonathan Holst; sisters: Mary Halberg of Wakefield, Mich. and Kathleen Auvinen of Ironwood, Mich. He is preceded in death by his parents and a grandson, Dustin Holst.