November 16, 1944 - July 3, 2016
Brian D. Waltz, age 71, of Eagan, formerly of Flushing, Michigan. Born on November 16, 1944, Brian was adopted by Clarence and Letha Waltz and was raised on the family farm in St. Johns, MI. His life-long love of education began at age 6 when he entered Stony Creek Elementary, the rural one-room schoolhouse where he and his sister, Dianne, were the only children in their grade. His love for education blossomed into a 50-year career as a mathematics teacher. He taught in the Flushing, Michigan public schools, retiring after 32 years. After moving to MN in 2000, he joined the faculty of the Convent of the Visitation High School to teach mathematics until retiring (again) in 2007. From then until his death he served as a substitute teacher and tutor. His influence extended beyond the classroom as he spent many years coaching baseball, wrestling and Quiz Bowl teams. He was active in the teacher’s union taking a leadership role as union president and contract negotiator allowing him to affect the lives of his colleagues and their families in positive ways. Brian is preceded in death by his parents and brother-in-law, Donald Deviley. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Barbara; children, Angela (Jeff Ylvisaker) Waltz, Philip (Megan) Waltz; grandchildren, Henry Alder Waltz, Phoebe Irene Waltz and Keira Reed Ylvisaker; sister, Dianne (Gerald) Sever; brother, David Waltz and sister-in-law, Marilyn Deviley and nieces and nephews.
Private family services and interment will be held.
Memorials may be directed to Health East Hospice.
Brian. You bring back many good memories.
Brian certainly served as an inspiration to many of his coworkers, myself included. He was always a man with a purpose when in the classroom and that was to share his knowledge and love of mathematics. Prayers to all family members and friends who knew Brian.
I was among Mr. Waltz’s students at Visitation as a senior in 2003. I remember one time we were trying to get him off track, to tell us a story instead of teaching calc (probably something about how hard he trained for the wrestling team when he was in high school). He said, “I know what you’re doing!” But then he told us the story anyway. We loved “Waltzy,” and we did learn some calculus along the way, too.
News of Brian’s passing has made my heart heavy this past week, but it’s also given me reason to reflect on what a wonderful human being he was. As his friend and fellow teacher in Flushing, I was lucky enough to get to know the many sides of Brian: he was warm and caring, funny, smart, tough, independent, humble, and a Love-my-wife-and-kids-more-than-anything-family-man. Brian literally carried the Flushing Teacher’s union on his back for many years as he lead us through negotiations and contract changes. His ideas and energy were instrumental in providing our Teacher’s association with a progressive contract that protected us and made us feel respected. His negotiation skills were legendary and the stuff union folklore in Michigan is made of. I’m so glad my flight path orbited the same circle as Brian’s for a short while. He will be sorely missed but so much of the wisdom, and good work he did, he spread will live on. Keeping Barb, Phillip and Angela in my thoughts and prayers this week.