Eugene N. Wagner, Sr., 82, of Sumner, died Thursday, September 5, 2013, at his home in Sumner.

Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Monday, September 9, 2013, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Sumner, Iowa with Rev. George Volkert officiating.  Interment will follow at Union Mound Cemetery in Sumner with military rites conducted by Thomas E. Woods Post #223, American Legion of Sumner.  Friends may call from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 8, 2013, at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the church on Monday. Memorials may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Sumner. 

Eugene Nicholas Wagner, son of Ludwig and Anna Schiller Wagner, was born January 26, 1931, at Empire, Minnesota. He was baptized at St. John’s Catholic Church in Vermillion, Minnesota and confirmed as an adult on June 5, 1968, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Sumner. Gene attended school in Randolph, Minnesota and served with the U.S. Army from February 1952 until January of 1954. He was united in marriage with Carol A. Rosenow at Morristown, Minnesota on November 12, 1966. He worked for the railroad for nine years, a service station in Minnesota for a brief time, and worked for the Sumner Municipal Light Plant for thirty years prior to retiring in 2002. He and his wife also served as custodians at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Sumner for twenty-eight years. He was a longtime member of St. Paul’s where he had served on various church committees, and was also a member of Thomas E. Woods Post #223, American Legion of Sumner. He enjoyed gardening and making yard art.

In addition to his wife, Carol of Sumner, he is survived by nine children, Peggy (Daryl) Eichenberger of Montezuma, Susan Wagner of Waverly, Gene, Jr. (Mary) Wagner of Osage, Chris Wagner of Waverly, Kenny (Cheryl) Hankia, Ronnie Hankia, Marcene (Mike) Linder, and Randy (Vicki) Barker, all of Farmington, Minnesota, and Mike (Jenny) Barker of Faribault, Minnesota; twenty-one grandchildren; twenty-seven great grandchildren; one brother, Joe (Geri) Wagner of Lakeville, Minnesota; three sisters, Georgianna Knutson of Phoenix, Arizona, Dorothy (Bill) Sensibaugh of Shakopee, Minnesota, and Odelia Schram of Brainerd, Minnesota; one brother-in-law, LeRoy Rother of Vermillion, Minnesota; and one sister-in-law, Delores Wagner of Northfield, Minnesota.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Gerald and three brothers who died in infancy; and two sisters, Rita and Delores.