Walter Barfknecht, age 88, of Owatonna, died Saturday, July 10, 2021, at The Homestead of Rochester. Walt was born and grew up in Faribault the son of Walter Barfknecht, Sr and Ella (Klatt) Barfknecht. He attended McKinley and Faribault High School. Walt had may jobs during high school and after, a man of many trades. Some were so South Minnesota Woodcraft and greens keeper at Shattack school. After his dad passed away, he moved to Owatonna and worked for Strohschine driving milk truck, drove city bus route for Owatonna Bus Company body and fender repair at Owatonna Body and mechanic at Ed's Repair. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953. He spent two years in Korea. He was an infantry communications operator in charge of running radio and telephone wires to different outposts. His division was only guaranteed two hours sleep for every 24 hours. He spent much of his time wondering why he was there. However, it was in Korea that Walt picked up two skills that would last him throughout his civilian life, cutting hair and working in a theater. When he first arrived in Korea, the Commander of his company asked the group if there was anyone who knew how to cut hair. Walt and a fellow soldier stepped up and said they did, not knowing the first thing about cutting hair. The commander had them give each other a flat top. It turns out the commander was impressed with Walt's work and from then on he was in charge of haircuts for his division. During his time in Korea, Walt was transferred to the 8th Army headquarters company. The Far East Movie Theater, with about 100 seats for soldiers to watch films in their down time, was located on the base. One night Walt went to check out the theater and the men in charge of running it were having trouble with the projection machine. He went to see what the problem was and helped them fix it. He landed a job running the theater and did that for the remainder of his time in Korea. The Owatonna Amusement Company hired Walt as a projectionist in 1958. A year later he was sent to Hutchinson, MN, for manager training. He became manager and worked that position until 1975. As a manager for the State Theater, he made all the newspaper ads and paste up sheet signs (old billboards) in small towns in the area. He was also in charge of hiring workers for the theaters in town. He saw many young people start their first jobs at the theaters. He tried making a positive impact on the young people, teaching them the importance of a good work ethic. He was manager of State Theatre and Starlite Drive In from 1959 to 1975. His wife, Marge worked along side of him to make sure everything was running smooth at both places. He loved his job and manager of the theater but wasn't satisfied just toing that. While managing the theater he picked up several other part-time jobs. In 1957, Walt took the necessary courses to become a medic and began driving ambulance part-time on call. He became one of the first CPR instructors in Steele County and taught courses for many years. During this time he became certified for and volunteered for the Minnesota Reserve and First Aid Association, the Red Cross and the American Heart Association. Also in 1957, Walt became a special deputy and a licensed protective agent for Minnesota through the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. As an armed bodyguard, he worked as an executive protection agent, a money courier and security for many businesses among other things. He started his own protection agency called Tonna Security Services. In the early '60s, Walt became a gun safety training instructor for the Minnesota DNR. He would teach weeklong courses on how to properly handle and shoot a gun. At the end of the final day of shooting on the range for each course, Walt would let everyone who qualified shoot his .44 Magnum Smith and Wesson. The gun is similar to the one Clint Eastwood shot in the movie Dirty Harry and many of his students had never held such a pistol before. After Walt got out of Korea, he continued cutting hair for friends and family as a hobby. In 1965, he opened his own barber shop on Bridge Street in Owatonna. By this time he had mastered the flattop and began adding other styles to his repertoire. In 1968, he became a nationally registered locksmith. He began working on safes, repairing locks and installing new ones in his free time before opening another business, Tonna Lock Service full-time. He had that business until he sold it in 1996, but he still got calls from around the state to work on safes. Walt took pleasure in helping people no matter what time of day or night. It didn't matter if it was lock, key, haircuts or just something that they were having problems with that had fallen apart or if it was a safe someone couldn't open. Sometimes he would spend hours or days getting it open, always with success. He is a life-time member of the V.F.W., past member of the Legion, Elks, Eagles, Owatonna Shrine Club and Zuhrah Shrine. Walt is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marjorie; daughter, Brenda; sister Betty Homeier and nieces and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother and cousins. A Visitation and Lunch Reception will be held at Michaelson Funeral Home in Owatonna on Friday, July 16th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM followed by a funeral service at 1:00 PM. Interment with military honors by the Steele County Military Funeral Unit will be in Forest Hill Cemetery immediately following the funeral service.