A carpenter from Minneapolis who built his own house, a walnut cradle for the grandchildren and half the kitchen tables on his street.
Walter Lindgren was born in March 1938 on a dairy farm near Brainerd, in northern Minnesota, the second of five children. He learned woodworking from his uncle Gus in a barn that smelled of sawdust and hay, and by eighteen he could build a door that never stuck.
He served two years in the Army, came home in 1960 and met Dorothy at a summer dance by the lake. They married in 1962 on the porch of her parents' farmhouse. Four years later Walt built their first house in Minneapolis with his own hands, one weekend at a time.
He worked construction for ten years, and in 1975 he opened a small woodworking shop on Lake Street. He made kitchen tables, cabinets and porches for half the neighborhood, and many of them are still in use. He liked to say that a good table should outlive the man who made it.
Walt and Dot raised Michael and Karen, and later five grandchildren. When the first grandchild was on the way, he spent three weeks of evenings in the shop and came out with a walnut cradle with a flower carved on its side. All of the grandchildren slept in it, and today his great-granddaughter Mia does too.
No family party was complete without his guitar. He played the same Johnny Cash songs every Fourth of July, and nobody minded. He fished on Sunday mornings in summer and on the ice of Mille Lacs in winter, and came home with very few fish and a lot of stories.
He passed away in November 2013. His grandchildren made this page years later, so that his photos and stories are kept in one place, for the family in Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle, and for those who never met him.
Up to three words. The family looks at your own word before it appears.
Album
12 photos, 1 album
2012Album4Album, 4 photos6550th wedding anniversary, 2012Karen, daughter1962Wedding, 1962Karen, daughter196613Building our first house, 1966Michael, son197837In the workshop, 1978Michael, son1984Fishing up north, 1984Michael, son1990Fourth of July picnic, 1990Bill, family friend200123With the grandchildren, 2001Emily, granddaughter200629Ice fishing on Mille Lacs, 2006Danny, grandson16The cradle he made for the grandchildrenEmily, granddaughter
Do you have photos with him? Add one photo or a whole album, for example from a wedding or a holiday.
Memories
Open the part you are interested in. Anyone can add a memory.
StoriesWe remember3
Our first house
Dad built our first house on weekends, one wall at a time. Mom says he finished the porch before the kitchen, because a house needs a place to sit in the evening.
Michael, son
Ice fishing on Mille Lacs
Every January he took me out on the ice before sunrise, with a thermos of coffee, two folding chairs and more stories than fish. That is where he told me about the farm, about uncle Gus and about the first time he saw Grandma at the dance by the lake.
Danny, grandson
The walnut cradle
When Danny was on the way, Grandpa stayed in the shop late every evening for three weeks and would not tell anyone what he was making. He brought a walnut cradle to the baby shower, with a flower carved on its side. We all slept in it later, and now my daughter does.
Emily, granddaughter
RecipesFrom his kitchen1
Grandpa's Saturday chiliKaren, daughter
He made it every Saturday in winter, in the same big pot, and the whole street knew it by the smell.
Ingredients
2 lb ground beef
2 onions
1 green bell pepper
2 cans kidney beans
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
Method
Brown the beef with the chopped onions and the pepper.
Add the tomatoes, the beans and the spices.
Simmer slowly for two hours, stirring now and then.
Serve with crackers and shredded cheese.
What he taught usWhat remains2
To help without keeping score
Half the street has porches he built, and from many he never took a cent. He used to say that good comes back, you just do not know when.
Michael, son
Measure twice, cut once
The first time I helped him in the shop I cut a board wrong. He was not angry. He gave me a tape measure and said to measure twice. Since then I do everything that way, not only with wood.
Danny, grandson
His wordsSayings2
„The fish are not in the mood today.“
That was how he explained almost every trip home from the lake.
Sophie, granddaughter
„A good table outlives its maker.“
He said it to every customer who complained about the price.
Michael, son
Songs he lovedMusic1
Johnny Cash, I Walk the Line
He played it every Fourth of July, always last, when the fireworks were over.
His summer fishing spot, always the same one, at the end of the dock. We still go there every June, on Father's Day.
Danny, grandson
Messages
5 messages
Sophie Lindgrengranddaughter, just now
I was little when you left, but I remember the smell of sawdust in your shop and your big warm hands. Thank you to everyone who sent photos, I had never seen most of them.
Bill Petersonbest friend, 13 min ago
Walt, no Fourth of July has been the same without your guitar. Every year someone says: if only Walt were here.
The O'Brien familyneighbors, 59 min ago
Your grandfather built our kitchen table when we moved in and never took a cent for fixing our porch. Thank you for making this page.
Anna Bergcousin, Stockholm, 2 hours ago
Dear Walt, you wrote to us every New Year for fifty years. The whole family here in Sweden is reading this page.
Emily Lindgrengranddaughter, 3 hours ago
Grandpa, we made this page so your stories stay with the ones who never met you. My little Mia sleeps in your cradle.
Scroll the list to see everyone, 5 in all.
A light in memory
18 candles are burning
Light a candle on the anniversary, on his birthday, or whenever you think of him.
2012Album, 4 photos65
1962
196613
197837
1984
1990
200123
200629
16