JOSEPH F. BAKALYAR, 90, of Cherokee, passed away Monday, May 20, 2013 at Cherokee Regional Medical Center.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 24th, at 11 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Pastor Jon Riggert will officiate. Burial will be in the Holy Trinity Lutheran Cemetery at Lakefield, Minn. There will be a family prayer service at 10:45 a.m. at the Church on Friday. Visitation will be on Thursday from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home with the family present from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. On line condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Joseph was born March 3, 1923 to Andrew and Susan (Matasovsky) on the family farm south of Lakefield, Minnesota. He was baptized in the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in rural Lakefield. He was active in choir, Sunday school and held several offices in the church. He attended rural grade school for 8 years and then went to Lakefield High school where he graduated in 1941. He served in the Minnesota State Guard from January of 1943 until March of 1945. He worked for his dad on the farm for 10 years while his six older brothers were in the service of our country during World War II. He worked part time with local electricians in Owatonna, Minnesota and worked in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota on schools, power plants and several River Dam projects.

He was married to Evelyn Schirrmacher on May 25, 1961 in Spencer, Iowa. And he adopted her daughter Wanda and they moved to Cherokee, Iowa. He became member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. He worked on the road for several electrical contractors and in 1965 he took a job with Wilson Foods as an electrician where he retired in 1988.

His hobby was wood working of which he made a large numbers of oak furniture. He sold some of it and gave some to relatives to enjoy. He also enjoyed fishing and hunting.

He was preceded in death by his father, mother, 6 brothers Tom, Art, Ted, Andy, George, Larry; and 3 sisters Margaret, Susie and Ethel.

He is survived by his daughter Wanda Smith and her husband Kenneth of Cherokee, Iowa; one granddaughter Stephanie and her husband John Foxhoven of Cherokee and one great grandson Jesse Foxhoven; one brother Carl (Arlene) Bakalyar of Preston, Minnesota; a sister Lillian Bakalyar of Worthington, Minnesota, several nieces and nephews.