Walter J. Suisse's Obituary
Walter J. Suisse, age 101, of Rose City, born and raised in St. Clair, passed away June 14, 2024. He was born July 9, 1922 to the late Charles "Ed" and Leona Suisse.
Walter proudly served his country with the United States Navy during World War II.
After the War he worked as a carpenter in the area. In his mid thirties he studied to become a tool and die maker. He would continue to work in that trade until his retirement. Upon retiring he worked at Green Briar Golf Course until the Covid pandemic.
Walt's true passion was hunting and fishing. He had shot over 100 bucks in his lifetime.
He is survived by his children; Richard (Beth) Suisse, Linda (David) Gooden, Sandra Suisse and Ruth (Gary) Wiegand.
He is also survived by many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, his sister; Joan Charron, and numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his wife; Ethel Suisse and sons; Roger and Charles Suisse as well as several siblings.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 22 at Young Funeral Home, China Twp. Interment with military honors will follow at Rosehill Cemetery, East China Twp. Visiting hours will be Friday from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday one hour prior to the service. Walt was not a suit and tie type of guy. Please dress casually.
Memorials are suggested to one of Walt's favorite charities; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
To leave the family a message of comfort please visit: www.youngcolonial.com
Remembering his service
Walt Suisse spoke with Amy Hensel of the Ogemaw County Herald on Armed Forces Day, May 18, 2024.
Walt grew up in St. Clair, Michigan. He attended Catholic school through the eighth grade and then public high school through 11th grade. “The next fall, I was doing carpentry work with my dad,” he said. “I worked carpentry work for few years with my dad. I worked for John Biewer Lumber for a while. And then I got a job at Thermoplastics. And we were making parts for the government.”
The United States had entered world War II in 1941, but Walt wasn’t drafted.
“Because I was working, I had a deferment,” he said. “I was a foreman on the afternoon shift from 3-11 p.m. I had three brothers in the Navy and one in the Army. I decided I wanted to go in the Navy, so I quit my job. The superintendent called me and begged me to come back to work. I said no, I made up my mind.”
Walt enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He went to basic training in Great Lakes, Illinois and became a gunner. “I was raised with guns,” he said. “When I was in boot camp, we had to go to gunnery ranges. I got a certificate for being a crack shot.”
After boot camp, Walt was with a crew which took a Landing Ship Tank down the Mississippi to Florida. The ship encountered hurricane weather on its way up the East Coast. “We rode that out for three days before we got to Baltimore,” Walt said. “Then we dropped it off there and they sent us up to Pittsburgh.”
Walt and his crew picked up USS Jerome County LST 848. “We took that down the Allegheny and the Mississippi to New Orleans and over to the Panama Canal, through the Panama Canal. Then we went up to Frisco and they loaded two PT boats on and took them over to Pearl Harbor. Then from there it was all serious stuff.”
Walt didn’t elaborate on any of the serious stuff. “We carried tanks and trucks and shuttled them from one island to another. I was all over the Pacific,” he said. “I wouldn't trade my three years in Navy for anything.”
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