Wesley Pape

Wesley Walter “Wes” Pape age 68 of Fountain City, formerly of Buffalo City passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at Gundersen Health System, LaCrosse. Wes was born on July 23, 1948 the son of Walter and Geneva (Wenger) Pape of Fountain City and raised on the family farm overlooking the Mississippi River, now Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum. Wes was a 1966 graduate of Cochrane-Fountain City High School. He entered the Navy in 1967 going to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Company 393 as a Mobile Construction Mechanic. He was sent to Vietnam serving two tours of duty, of which he was very proud of. He was honorably discharged in 1970. He remained and continued his service in the Naval Reserves until April of 1973. He married Deborah Ogden of Iowa on August 3, 1974 in Winona and lived there for a few months before moving Fountain City. He eventually moved to buffalo City, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a member of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Fountain City and was confirmed on April 15, 1962. Wes worked has hard as he played, working for Madison Silo and Lakeside Foods, formerly Lakeside Packaging as a forklift operator and retiring from Riverside Electronics at Lewiston as a punch press operator in 2011. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and going to races at the local tracks and was a huge NASCAR fan. His hobbies were painstakingly putting together 100’s of model cars and doing paint by number pictures under his magnifying glass, all while listening to his extensive record collection of county music. Wes is survived by his sister, JoAnne Wier of Arcadia; a niece, Tammie (Robert) Thompson and their son Wayne all of Whitehall; also Debbie’s daughters, Colleen, Shawna and Toni of Iowa along with cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Geneva; brother in law, LeRoy Wier and two infant brothers. A memorial gathering and service will be held later this spring. Many thanks to the doctors and nurses who cared so thoughtfully for Wes at Gundersen Lutheran Health System, especially Dr. Rhonda Sallaway who comforted him until the very end.