Michael Gustav Viise, age 99, of Decorah, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Highlands in Decorah, Iowa.

Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2026, at Calmar Lutheran Church, 200 East St, Calmar, IA 52132, with Pastor Jan Gluth-King presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with full military honors.

Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Monday, May 11, 2026, at Calmar Lutheran Church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the following or another charity of your choice in honor of Michael:

- St. Croix Hospice - hospicesupportfoundation.org or Hospice Support Foundation, 1175 Centre Pointe Circle, Mendota Heights, MN 55120

- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - unhcr.org

He was born in Tartu, Estonia, on November 23, 1926, to Kustav and Johanna Marie (née Zernant) Viise. In the 1930s, he spent school holidays at the Viise family farm near Kadrina, owned by his uncle Jaan Viise, playing with his brother Ants and cousin Kaljo. Those summers shaped his later commitment to family time at the Bjonerud farm in Iowa, where his wife Neva had grown up.

He entered high school in Rakvere in the fall of 1940, rooming with Kaljo, but wartime occupations disrupted his education and he left Estonia in 1944. With his mother and youngest siblings, Mari and Jaan, he reached a displaced persons camp in Augsburg, Germany, where he finished high school and attended classes at the University of Karlsruhe. In 1949, they emigrated to the US, sponsored by Ants Wiise [Viise], then a pilot in the US Air Force. Michael entered Wagner College on Staten Island in the fall of 1950 and graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in history. Following his father’s example, he entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in fall 1952 and, after ordination in 1955, entered the Air Force as a chaplain.

Michael met Neva Bjonerud in 1957 while stationed at Pepperrell Air Force Base in Newfoundland. They married on June 21, 1958, at Calmar Lutheran Church in Calmar, Iowa. He served 30 years as a Lutheran chaplain in the Air Force, retiring as a colonel in 1985. Michael and Neva raised four children and lived at Griffiss AFB, NY (1961-65); Hickam AFB, HI (1965-68); Holloman AFB, NM (1968-71); Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand (1972, isolated tour); Lackland AFB, TX (1973-75); Minot AFB, ND (1975-80); Rhein Main AB, FRG (1980-83); and Langley AFB, VA (1983-85). After retirement, they moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he entered the University of Virginia’s master’s program in history and earned a PhD in 1995. His dissertation, “The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church During the Soviet Period, 1940-1991,” drew in part on documents he found in the Lutheran Consistory archives in Tallinn in 1991.

In 1995, the Estonian government invited Michael to help establish a modern military chaplaincy. From 1995 to 1998, he and Neva lived in Tallinn, where he drafted a program modeled on the US military chaplaincy—work he regarded as the highest achievement of his professional life. Returning to Charlottesville, he spent his time gardening and leading Bible study at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, as well as discussing history and current events with close family friend Norbert Sack. In 2014, he and Neva moved to Decorah, Iowa.

Michael was a loving, fun father and grandfather. He enjoyed hosting his grandchildren in Charlottesville, where they built bonfires, shot pellet guns, and picked bushels of peaches. He is survived by his sister, Mari Zarins; three of his four children: Lina Miller (Edwin) of Independence, Kansas; Michelle Viise of Somerville, Massachusetts; John Viise (Heather) of Villa Park, Illinois; daughter-in-law Cynthia Viise of Elmhurst, Illinois; and his godson Eric Pensa (Astrid) of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is mourned by 10 grandchildren: Kirsten and Anna Miller; Peter, Andrew, James (Samantha), and Emily Mueller; and Gustav, Lars, Darrell, and Johann Viise. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers Ants and Jaan; his wife Neva; his daughter Diane; and his daughter-in-law Laura (née Reisman) Viise. His caring presence, intelligence, humor, and calming wisdom will be missed by all.