Obituaries

John Elwood Mackey, 86 of Hudson, WI, died August 14, 2014 at his home.
John was born on August 16, 1927 in Cass Lake, MN. He grew up in Cass Lake. After school he joined the Navy and served on the U.S.S Iowa during WWII. After he completed his duties with the Navy, he worked as a heavy equipment operator and helped build several dams including Garrison Dam in North Dakota and Oahe Dam in South Dakota. He married Mary Zimmerman on November 6, 1954. After attending Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, IL, they moved to northern Minnesota, eventually settling in Biwabik, where they raised their family in a house that John himself built.

Helen M. Latva, 78, of Ely, passed away on Thursday, Aug.14, 2014, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth. She was born on April 30, 1936, in Ely to Louis and Esther (Roiko) Loushin. Helen married Edwin Latva on Aug. 14, 1954, in Virginia and they raised four children. Helen was a lifelong resident of Ely and First Lutheran Church.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years: Edwin, their children: Luann (Keith) BaDour of Glenwood City, WI, David Latva of Fairbault and Joel (Veronica) Latva of Mantua, OH; four grandchildren; one great- grandchild; and sister-in-law: Jean Loushin of Babbitt.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, her sister and brother-in-law: Doris (Edgar) Dorn; brother and sister-in-law: Robert (Sandra) Loushin and brothers: James and Robert Loushin.

Rose MacMasters, 96, a longtime resident of Franklin, MN died Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at the Golden Living Center in Olivia.
Rose was born in Ely, MN on August 13, 1917 to John and Johanna (Drobnich) Shega. After attending school here, she worked cleaning houses. She then worked at The Chocolate Shop in Ely, where she met her future husband, Marvin, who was working in northern Minnesota for the U.S. Forest Service as a Radio Operator. They were married on July 7, 1938 at St Anthony’s Catholic Church in Ely. In 1941 they moved to Bismarck, ND where Marvin worked at the Fort Lincoln Internment Camp as a Radio Dispatcher. In 1942 they moved to Dayton and later Fairborn, Ohio where he worked as an Electronics Engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. While Marvin was the breadwinner, Rose kept house and took care of their children. In 1972 they left their home in Fairborn and retired to Marvin’s home town, Franklin, MN.

Ross Harmon Buffington, 55, formerly of Ely, MN and Algona, IA, passed away in his hometown of Omaha, NE on July 26, 2014. He was born Sept. 9, 1958.
He was president of Boundary Waters Bank from 1988-2003. During his time in Ely he was involved in the Dorothy Molter Foundation and served on the Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital board and other civic organizations.
He is survived by his two sons and many other relatives in Iowa and Nebraska. Services were held on August 9 in Algona.

Eleanor Alice Bird, 91, of Virginia went to be with her Lord on August 5, 2014.
She was born on September 28, 1922, in Ely,  MN to Wesley and Dolly (Hintz) Beel.  Eleanor lived in Ely for 45 years and moved to Virginia in 1967 when her husband Clifford “Kippy” Bird was transferred after the mine in Ely shut down.
Eleanor graduated from Ely Memorial High School in 1940 and for many years was known for her speed in taking shorthand; she held the high school record for a long time and still used it once in a while to see how much she could remember about it.
She loved to play cards with her friends at her apartment complex and at the Virginia Senior Center. She also had a love of learning and her favorite program to watch on TV was Jeopardy.  She watched the MN Twins games whenever she could.

Eldon John Hall , 67, died August 11, 2014 peacefully in his sleep at his home on Birch Lake in Ely, after an eight year battle with COPD.
He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Alvin and Mildred (Fredlund) Hall on October 26,1946.
Eldon grew up in Ely and graduated from Ely Memorial High School in 1965 where he played high school basketball and football. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1969 and graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School where he received his degree in law. He moved back to Ely where he opened his private practice on April 1, 1973. He also worked in the Mn. Judicial system for 30 years. He was an Assistant St. Louis County Attorney from 1974-1982, a Judge for the 6th Judicial District, 1982-1988 and an Assistant St. Louis County Public Defender from 1989 until he retired in 2004.
Eldon was a proud member of the Mn. Air National Guard, 148th Division in Duluth MN, retiring as a Master Sergeant after 22 years of service.

Michael “Mickey” Vesel, age 59, of Pillager, MN passed away at his home on Monday August 4, 2014 after a short battle with aggressive leukemia. Mickey was born in Ely to John and Rosemary (Bishoff) Vesel on October 27, 1954. He married the love of his life Sandra Erickson (Johnston) and together raised two children. Mickey worked as an LPN at St. Joseph’s-Essentia Health in Brainerd, MN for many years and most recently at IWCO in Little Falls.
Mickey’s wonderful wit and sense of humor and his love of horses, camping, canoeing, love of family and the “simple” life are some of the many things we will remember about him.
A celebration of Mickey’s life will be held on Saturday August 16, 2014 at 1 p.m. at the Birch Lake Cemetery in Ely with luncheon to follow at the beloved Untinen family homestead.

Paulette R. Bodine, 74, of Virginia, died Saturday, July 26, 2014, at her home.
She was born May 28, 1940, in Ely, the daughter of Tauno and Ruth (Martin) Nikkinen. She graduated from Ely High School in 1958.

Raymond C. Froelich, 85, died Friday, August 1, 2014 at Carefree Assisted Living in Ely with family by his side.  He was born January 30, 1929 in Albany, MN to Christopher and Mary (Kubicek) Froelich.
In 1953 he married Leora Vraa.  They farmed in the Kelliher area before moving to Babbitt/Ely where he worked for Reserve Mining Company for 30 years.
His life always centered around his family.  He was a member of St. Anthony’s Parish in Ely  He also enjoyed camping. boating, gardening, hunting and carpentry.
His wife, Leora, preceded him in death along with sisters: Marion, Helen, Irene, one brother: Gregor Froelich and his grandson Frank Kerntz, Jr.

Martha E. Korosec, age 90, of Brooklyn Park on July 30, 2014.
Preceded in death by beloved husband: John Korosec Jr. Survived by loving children: John Franz, Stephen Drake (Debra) and Diane Marie Korosec; nephew: Jess R. (Kate) Ford and niece: Mary (Bill) Ford-Sussman.
Martha was a graduate of Marshall High School. She was also a co-founder of Koro Industries, Inc., a precision gear manufacturing company which she and her husband started in 1965. She served as head of the Altar Committee of St. Phillip’s Lutheran Church of Fridley for many years. Martha also enjoyed making costumes for the Andahazy Ballet Company.
The family wishes to thank the staff of N.C. Little Memorial Hospice, Edina, for their skilled and loving care.