F. Leslie Wise

Floyd Leslie Wise, age 96, of Staples passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 5, 2021, at The Little Falls Care Center. Leslie was born in Little Falls on July 24, 1925, to Floyd & Edna (Cooper) Wise. Known as Leslie by his family, he was raised with his 4 siblings on the family farm near Randall, and graduated Little Falls High School in 1943. He served his country in WWII as Military Police in the US Army, stationed in Korea. He attended Dunwoody Institute for general printing and linotype training and worked for Kelly The Printer in Minneapolis. Leslie and Clarice Schrupp were married on June 28, 1952 and moved back to the Randall area family farm where their first 3 children were born. When the farm was hailed out, Leslie decided to apply to become a Highway Patrolman and completed his training at Camp Ripley in October, 1957. Trooper Floyd Wise was then stationed in Virginia, MN and with 3 children in tow, they moved to Nashwauk and he began his 25 year career as a Minnesota State Trooper. When transferred to Staples in 1961, they moved there with 4 children, adding child number 5 after building a new home in 1964. While living in Staples, Leslie also worked part-time for Ford Motor, and then Kingsley Press in Wadena. In the early ‘70s, he purchased a former church building in Staples and started his own family printing business called Temple Press. After retiring from the Patrol, Temple Press became his full-time retirement job for 20+ years before fully retiring to fish, hunt, garden and share his love of Jesus with all who would listen. Leslie was a giver and a man of unconditional love who gave freely of his bountiful garden harvest. He provided rides for the elderly, taught 55 Alive classes, was a member of Promise Keepers and The Gideons who faithfully read his bible, attended church and weekly Bible Studies. He loved to share his joy and knowledge of gardening, hunting , fishing cribbage and cards games with family and friends even when his vision began to fail. He lived a long and full life and now those who love and mourn his loss can celebrate the knowledge without question or doubt, that he is resting in the arms of His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, fishing and gardening with the angels. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 69 years, Clarice; children: Brian (Diana) Wise, Linda (Gordon) Gathright, Richard Wise, Natalie (Steve) Olsen, Timothy (Sonya) Wise; 13 grandchildren: Joshua Wise, Jessica (Eric) Betzler, Rebekah (Glenn) Peterson, Rachel (Jeff) Calton, Andrew (Stephanie) Gathright, Kendra Olsen, Lucas (Nicole) Olsen, Kaylee (Brad) Peterson, Brittanie (Daniel) Wonderly, Steffanie Wise, Alex Wise, Charles (Vanessa) Wise, Peter Wise; 20 Great Grandchildren: Gavin, Bronte, Karley, Kristin, Trevor, Ella, Soren, Jonas, Greta, Carolina, Brooklyn, Caden, Taylor, Chelsea, Jameson, Lilly, Nathan, Eden, Silas, and Laila with the 21st soon to arrive. Leslie is preceded in death by his parents: Floyd E. and Edna Wise; brothers: Wyman Wise, Seward Wise, Merrill Wise; sister: Carolyn Weston; granddaughter, Chelsea Marlene Olsen. A memorial service for Leslie will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2021, at 11AM at the Motley Free Methodist Church. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Memorials are preferred to Motley free Methodist Church, Staples Church of Christ or to the Gideons www.sendtheword.org