Obituary of Augustine Palzer

Augustine (Gus) Palzer, 92, of Cambridge, MN, formerly of Milbank, SD was called to his heavenly home by the Lord Jesus Christ on Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Gus was the oldest son of a family with 14 children, born on May 22, 1922. He was raised in Mazeppa Minnesota and farmed therewith his family until he went to school at Dunwoody Institute. He went to seek his fortune in Alaska as a surveyor in 1949 and returned back to Minnesota where he worked as an estimator in the roofing and sheet metal business for John A. Dalsin and later Ettel & Franz for more than 20 years. He later started his own roofing business, Ampco Inc. and also obtained a U.S. patent for a roofing machine and created Easy-Seal Inc. Meanwhile he raised Christmas trees on the family farm and sold them under AMP Christmas trees…he must have loved his initials: A, M, P! In 1953 he married the love of his life Helen Novotny. We just celebrated their 61st Wedding Anniversary on June first. They had seven wonderful children who filled their lives with love, laughter, excitement, and a few extra challenges and gray hairs too! Gus loved to hunt and fish and shared this with his children. He was one of the State's first gun safety instructors. Gus was a long time member of Fur Fin Feather sportsman club and also a member of the Knights of Columbus. Besides these hobbies, he had the love of the outdoors and later in life bought a portable saw mill and sawed many trees into lumber. This reminded him of being back on the farm during his earlier years. Unfortunately Alzheimer's disease slowly took his mind and challenged him until the end to make the best of each day. He was greatly loved and will be missed. He is survived by his wife Helen of Cambridge, children Kathy Mauer (Richard) Tonn, Mary Menzel (Larry) Germanson, Paul Palzer, William Palzer, Nancy (Robert) Fitzgerald, David (Sandy) Palzer, & Greg Palzer; 18 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, many other relatives and friends.