William R. Callister

William Robert Callister, age 93 of Cannon Falls, died on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at Cannon Rivers Senior Living, surrounded by family.

Bill was born on August 5, 1931 in Skyberg (Kenyon Township), the son of Stanley and Margaret (Salzwedel) Callister. He graduated from Kenyon High School and attended college at the University of Minnesota, where he belonged to the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

Bill and Shirley (Saunders) were married for 60 years, and they had five children. During his 20 year military career, Bill flew fighter jets off the USS Hancock and was a helicopter pilot. He retired in 1991 as Lieutenant Colonel. He was an airline pilot and longtime farmer. He married Hannah Braatz in 2014.

Bill was active with the VFW Nelson Scofield Post #4452 and American Legion Post in Cannon Falls. He served on the honor guard and served as its chaplain for many years. He volunteered with the Shriners and enjoyed being a clown. He served on the Randolph Township Board and was campaign manager for three local politicians.

He is survived by his children, Jean (Marty) Benson of Northfield; Cathy Callister of Cannon Falls, Debbie (John) Levin of Cannon Falls, Chip (Micki) of Cannon Falls, and Susan (Rahn) Safe of Cannon Falls; 15 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren and one on the way; sisters, Patricia Boehne of Bloomington and Mavis (Bruce) Johnson of Cannon Falls; sisters-in-law, Angela Callister of Bloomington and Sharon Callister-Huebner of Cannon Falls; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Gary, Colin and Dennis Callister; sister-in-law, Darlene Callister; and brother-in-law, Bill Boehne.

A visitation will be held on Friday, June 13 from 5-7 pm at Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Cannon Falls. The memorial service will be on Saturday, June 14 at 11:00 am, with visitation from 10-11 am, at the church, with Pastor Tim Banks officiating. A military honors farewell will follow the service outside of church. This service will be live-streamed and available to watch below.

LIVESTREAM INFORMATION: For those who would like to participate in Bill’s service via livestream, you can watch the service on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 11:00 am. It can be viewed by scrolling to the bottom of this page and click PLAY to begin. Please leave a message of support on our Tribute Wall to let the family know you were able to watch the service. If you are having troubles with the Livestream, the service will be available to watch later in the day.