Vernon Wahlen

Vernon "Red" H. Wahlen, DDS of Fort Collins, died August 30, 2011 at the age of 89. Red was born December 24, 1921 in Middle River, Minnesota to Joel and Mabel Wahlen. He grew up on a farm in Pope County, MN and attended high school in Benson where the highlight was playing right guard for the football team. Red served in WWII in the US Army as Tech Sgt. for the Amphibious Engineers in the Pacific Theatre. After the war he attended Union College in Lincoln, NE where he met the love of his life. Red and Donna were married, September 4, 1949 in Loveland, Colorado. He put himself through Dental School with the help of the GI Bill and his skills as a carpenter to graduate from the University of Nebraska in 1954. Red and Donna then moved to Clark, South Dakota, where he set up his dental practice. They moved in 1959 to make their home in Fort Collins where Red practiced until retiring in 1991. Red was a loving husband and father who enjoyed taking his family skiing, golfing, fishing and hiking anywhere in the Colorado mountains, that held such a special place in his heart. Red and Donna were passionate fans of the CSU Rams basketball team and traveled to many away games through the years. He was a lifetime member of the Noontime Rotary Club and was a Paul Harris Fellow. He donated his dental skills to the local Women's Center; and in retirement, he travelled overseas to assist Vietnamese Refugees. He was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association. Red was active with the Fort Collins Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where in the past he had served as Church Elder, School Board Chairman and a Pathfinder leader. He is survived by his wife, Donna; his son, Mark; his daughter and son-in-law, Marianne and Marc Samson of South Pasadena, CA; four grandchildren, Andrew Wahlen, Brooke Nelson and Michael and Nicholas Samson; five great-grandchildren; and his brother and sister-in-law, Ernie and Wanda of Portland, Oregon. Red's family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Pathways Hospice.