Allen E. Patzke

Allen Erwin Patzke, age 96 of Plymouth, formerly of Green Valley, AZ and Milwaukee, WI passed away on December 3rd shortly after celebrating his 71st wedding anniversary on December 1st with his best friend and wife, Frieda.  Allen is also survived by son, Jeff (Pam) Patzke; daughter, Judy (Tom) Hoskens; grandchildren, Andrew (Seven) Patzke, Mollie Patzke, Brendan Hoskens and Kristina Hoskens; and a great grandchild on the way.  Preceded in death by parents, Fred Sr. and Minnie Patzke and brother, Fred Patzke Jr.

Allen enlisted in the Navy Reserves in June 1944 and learned to fly in two-man dive & torpedo bombers. He was assigned to the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) as a combat air crewman for the Navy’s SB2C Helldiver. On one flight, the pilot (messing around) went into a dive doing 9 and a half G’s!  Allen remembers meeting President Truman aboard the carrier.  “An ensign reprimanded me for talking to the president but the president spoke to me first,” he said.  He spent 11 months protecting our eastern seaboard patrolling for enemy submarines and was proud of his naval career.

Allen returned to Milwaukee after the war and graduated from the University of Wisconsin.  He worked 25 years for the Milwaukee Water Works and retired to Arizona in 1988.  In 2017, he and Frieda moved back to Minnesota to be closer to family.

Allen’s strong faith, his work ethic, his loyalty to his Packers and Badgers, his love of fishing ever in search of the proverbial “Big One” and golf; and his delight for a good steak on the grill alongside a fine gin martini (two olives: one for him & one for daughter Judy) have left us with many wonderful memories!

Following the service, intement will be at Ft. Snelling.  After the interment please join the family for a late lunch @ 2:00pm at Ciao Bella located at 3501 Minnesota Drive, Bloomington, MN 55435.

Thank you all for coming to honor and celebrate Allen’s legacy!

Memorials preferred to Honor Flight Twin Cities (www.honorflighttwincities.org).