By HDN Staff
WALTER O'DONNELL
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa Walter R. O'Donnell, 69, died Friday, Jan. 5, 2001 at his home in Spirit Lake, Iowa of heart failure.
A funeral service was yesterday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. Funeral liturgy in Great Falls is 11 a.m. Saturday at O'Connor Memorial Chapel with Rite of Committal in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
O'Donnell was born Nov. 18, 1931 in Havre to Charles L. and Jemima M. (Peterson) O'Donnell. He graduated from Havre High School in 1948. He attended Northern Montana College for two years, then transferred to the University of Montana where he was student body president. He graduated with a journalism degree in 1952, then attended the University of Montana Law School for two years.
O'Donnell went to work for Anchor Casualty in 1954 and in 1959 became a partner in the Howard Connor Insurance Co. in Great Falls. He sold his interest in 1969 and moved to Des Moines, Iowa to become affiliated with the Statesman's Insurance Group. He retired in 1988 and moved to Spirit Lake.
O'Donnell was a member of the Spirit Lake Elks Lodge and St. Mary's Catholic Church and was a director at Okoboji Yacht Club.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Patrick, Charles, Richard and Robert O'Donnell; sisters, Louise O'Donnell, Mary Johnson and Helen Draeger.
Survivors include his sister, Jemima R. Brennan of Great Falls; sisters-in-law, Geraldine O'Donnell of Seattle and Wilma O'Donnell of Billings; 21 nieces and nephews; 21 great nieces and nephews.
Memorials are suggested to St. Mary's Catholic Church or Okoboji Yacht Club, both in Spirit Lake.
