Michael Dwayne Wahl, Sr.

Michael Dwayne Wahl Sr., age 69, of Norwalk passed away due to complications of COVID-19 at his home on Saturday, November 28, 2020.

Viewing will be 2 to 7 p.m. with a Celebration of Life Service at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15th at O'Leary Funeral Services in Norwalk.  

Note:  Due to COVID-19 restrictions, everyone attending is required to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing.  During the visitation, a limited number of people will be allowed in the funeral home.  You may have to wait outside.  For those attending the funeral, guests will be allowed to enter the building 15 minutes prior to the service and must wear a face masks and maintain social distancing between households.

To share an on-line condolence with the family and to send flowers to his visitation please click the "send flowers/tributes" tab on this screen or call O'Leary's Flowers at (515) 981-0700.  You may also order by going to: www.olearyflowers.com

Michael Wahl’s Life Story

Mike was born March 17, 1951 in Osceola, Iowa to Ernest and Edith (Moden) Wahl.  He was the youngest of seven children.

The family moved to the east side of Des Moines where he attended Des Moines schools.  Being from a large family suited him just right, being the baby was even better.  He loved being with people and had many nieces and nephews to play with.  He has kept in touch with them over the years.  He loved fishing and working on cars and boats.

He was always building old cars and working on them throughout his life.  Mike attended Des Moines Tech where he was enrolled in the automotive area and improved his mechanical skills. He always had a car at home that he was working on.  He loved to drag race at Des Moines Dragway, Eddyville, Cedar Falls and, of course, street racing in Runnels.

In the summer of 1968, he was on a double date and met Pat Johnson who also had a love of old cars.  After eight months of arguing about who knew the most about cars, he finally popped the question and that was the beginning of a 51-year marriage.  They had their first child, Mike Jr. in 1970.  In 1972 they moved from Des Moines to Norwalk buying Pat’s grandparents property where they had room for the “brood” - Mike Jr., Katie, Matt Sr., and Mitch.  Mike and family continued drag racing while the kids were young. He enjoyed going to swap meets and buying parts for old cars.  He got the whole family involved in racing or building and restoring old cars.  He belonged to several car clubs such as ISRA, MSRA and Good-Guys, and attended many car shows each year.  Over the years, Mike was always trying to learn new things.  He went to trade schools and learned to weld, machine and fabricate almost anything.  He was in constant demand to build chassis for race cars.  He also went on to get his plumbing and HVAC license.  He loved sharing his knowledge and was always willing to help people out when they had questions on how to do things.  Mike was a talker!  He was also a collector and loved to show off his collection of old gas pumps and old cars.

 As he got older, he found time to get back to his fishing.  He recently bought a pontoon boat and took his three youngest grandchildren out on a lake to fish.  They had many good times over the summer.  Spoiling his grandchildren was the highlight of his life.

He was in charge of the July 4th parade in Norwalk for over twenty years and looked forward to it every year.   There was always something new to see.

Mike is survived by his wife Pat, children Mike Jr. (Cathy) Wahl, Katie (Shane) Buck, Matt Sr. (Liz Grieshop) and Mitch (Amanda Hass); his loving grandchildren, Maddie Wahl, Matt Wahl Jr., Mac Wahl, Zoey Wahl, Ryan Hass, Michael Wahl III and Harper Wahl, and can’t forget the pets, Sammy, Thelma, Sleepyhead and Rocket; many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest and Edith Wahl; brothers Rex, Don, Ray and sisters Louise Cotton, Audrey Page and Wanetta Scott.  He will be missed by so many.