Cletus Joseph Walz Jr.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Ambrose Catholic Church on Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 at 11:00 AM. Family receiving condolences from 10:00-11:00 at the church. Light lunch to follow.
The celebration of life will be at Starks Funeral Parlor on Monday, June 6th, 2016 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
Clete (CJ) passed in his home of over 40 years in Salt Lake City, UT. Clete was born July 19, 1940 To Alma and Cletus Sr. at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City. He was the youngest of 4 kids. Bernadette Benvegnu, Michael Walz & Leo Walz are his sibs. Michael preceded him in death in 1984. Clete graduated from Judge Memorial High School and then served in the Air National Guard. He received training as a mechanic and technician because of his mechanical genius.
He is survived by his wife Patricia (Pat), his kids; Heidi (35), Brian (32) and Stephanie (27) and so many friends.
CJ was wily from the get go. He built electric train sets at 10 years old (we are not talking about putting toys together.. he MADE them). He hot-wired a steam-roller at 12 because his brothers said he couldn't do it, and had so many other stories of talent, wit and stubbornness.
CJ was a successful landlord from the age of 25. He started his own business as an electronics technician when he was 19. He repaired televisions for pretty much everyone in Salt Lake. He made house calls and loved learning about you and visiting when the work was done. And he expected to visit. Because he could keep anything running he made his two oldest kids watch Sesame Street on a black and white tv for years after everyone else upgraded to color.
Most family and close friends never thought Clete would marry, because he was so good at being a bachelor. Clete met his match and fell in love with Pat while he was playing the organ for the Cathedral of the Madeline and Pat sang in the choir. This December, they would have been married for 37years. Clete and Pat played scrabble daily, and knew more 2 letter words than any person should ever have in their memory.
Before meeting Pat and starting his own family with her, Clete was a beloved foster father for kids in the Catholic church that needed help.
Stephanie Wright is the baby of the family (she got to watch Sesame Street on a color TV). Clete was so proud of her talents as a multi-media artist, and showed everyone that came to the house her latest painting of an old international truck in a Wyoming field. He got to walk her down the isle in 2014 to be married to Seth Wright, and was proud and happy to do so. He was really impressed by Seth. He loved how adventurous they are together, and how much Steph loves camping at the family's desert property.
Brian is Clete's middle kiddo and only boy. He did not want Brian to go to war, but he deeply respected Brian's decision to follow his heart and desire to serve the country. Brian was a cavalry scout for his 2 tours in the Iraq war. He drove a Bradley to scout out challenges to safety for the rest of the crew. In the summer of 2015, father and son got to spend quality time together patching the 50 year old "lifetime roof" ... that leaked. Brian is now Cellerman for Epic Brewing Co. in SLC. Dad LOVED that he made beer and is proud of his boy.
Heidi is his oldest. She took after him in many ways. She started her own business before she was 20, and owns a motorhome for camping, travel and fitting lots of people in one vehicle at a time. She has been wellness manager at the Salt Lake Country Club for 13 years and specializes in Therapeutic BodyWork, conscious fitness and is passionate about helping people heal. Clete adored Beirne Chisolm, Heidi's partner of 3 years. Clete considered Miles(14) and Lilly(12) grand-children.
In his bachelor days when he was playing the organ at the Cathedral, he was part of monthly poker games with some of the priests of the diocese. He kept various other poker groups hamming it up over the years. For the last few years he played poker with his wife, brother Leo and Leo's wife Jane weekly. He got so much joy playing poker with his sort-of grand-kids Lily and Miles over the last 3 years. He never bluffed, and was super-sharp so if he stayed in the game or raised the pot, you had better have an unbeatable hand, because if you didn't-he did. He even lost well and would celebrate whomever won the hand. He did this in life too, by enjoying others triumphs and accomplishments.
He watched just about every Jazz game with fellow fan Ila Mae Clark. He named his previous dog ‘Coach' in honor of Jerry Sloan.
Clete LOVED cars. He prided himself on getting the best gas mileage possible by manipulating filters, oil, gas additives, exc. A car that was advertised to get 27 miles per gallon on the highway would get closer to 40 mpg by the time he was done with it. He would always ask you how your car was running, even if he asked you yesterday, and would help you fix anything that you asked him to on the spot.
He was always EXACTLY on time... or earlier, and drove EXACTLY the speed limit...or slower.
Anything worth doing in CJ's eyes, was worth over-doing. He LOVED having breakfast or dinner at Ruths Diner in Emigration Canyon with his buddy Denis. Once a week breakfast turned into a Tuesday and Friday ritual, and any other time Clete could find an excuse to go. He had to make friends with the owners Eric and Tracy so they didn't think he was weird (but his weirdness shone through :). He also loved telling people that Ruth sold him his first "legal" beer in 1961.
He literally had an addiction to Harbor Freight and at one time or another had every hand tool known to man. Gadgets made the man very happy.
CJ made the best barbecued chicken with his signature sauce and a laser thermometer from Harbor Freight that he used to keep track of the temperature of the bbq, and chicken. He only started the chicken on fire once. Which was one of those excuses to go to Ruths.
He made terrible coffee. His kids tried to give him french presses and various other ways of making good coffee, but he stuck to the cowboy way of boiling the crap out of pre-ground beans that always filled the last few sips at the bottom of your cup and often ended up in your teeth. You would always be offered a cup if you were around in the morning, and some sort of adult beverage after 5pm. And even if you didn't partake in coffee or spirits, he always had something to offer you. He loved being a host.
Cousins, nieces and nephews and young neighbors remember CJ visiting in his motorhome often, taking them camping, fishing, and teaching them how to have a real pillow fight.
One kind man will be missed by many, and one hell of a poker game just started in Heaven.
We love you, Papa.