John Harold Halling

November 17, 1921 – November 10, 2020
Age 98 of Roseville, died peacefully in his sleep of congestive heart failure on November 10, 2020, exactly one week before his 99th birthday. Born in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, John grew up in Northeast Minneapolis, where years of playing Park Board hockey fostered a life-long love of ice skating and roller skating. He graduated from Edison High School in 1940. While at Edison he wrote humor columns for the school newspaper. He admired and celebrated good writing, clever wordplay, and groan-inducing puns. John served in the Army Air Corps during World War II as a radio instructor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and later, on Saipan in the Pacific Theater. After the war, John attended the University of Minnesota, where he received the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. A long career with Honeywell ensued, working on teams involved in the design of components for the US Navy nuclear submarine program, and for the Gemini and Apollo space programs. John enjoyed a long and happy retirement filled with golf, roller skating and long-blade skating, big band music, travel, creating elaborate score cards for Minnesota Twins games, and spending joyous time playing with his grandchildren while watching them grow into adults. John is survived by Rosalie (Lee) Halling, his wife of 72 years, daughter Sandra (Tom) Walsh, son Chris (Marianne) and grandchildren Michael, Elizabeth, John (Nicole), Christina, and Eric. Services will be private, followed by burial in Saint John the Baptist Cemetery in New Brighton. John’s family requests memorials be sent to a local food shelf or organization assisting the homeless. (Published in the Star Tribune on November 19, 2020)