Dennis Delbert Genereau

Dennis D. Genereau, 67, of Barnum, Minn., went to be with the Lord on March 31, 2012. He was born Aug. 10, 1944, in Duluth to Delbert and Marguerite (Couture) Genereau.

Dennis married the love of his life, Annabelle Gooder, on April 1, 1967 in Duluth. They were just one day short of their 45th wedding anniversary. He grew up in Duluth, attending St. James Elementary School, and Cathedral High School. Dennis graduated from UMD in 1966 with an Industrial Arts Degree. He taught Industrial Arts at Duluth Cathedral High School for nine years, and coached hockey five of those years, taking four of his teams to the state high school hockey tournament.

In 1975, Dennis took a leap of faith and bought a dairy farm in rural Barnum, which was a perfect place to raise nine children. In 1978, he started working for Boldt Construction in Cloquet, where he was a construction superintendent for many years. Some of his more notable projects include the library and Weber Music Hall at UMD, the St. Olaf College Library, Hennepin County Garbage Incinerator and the NSP Garbage Separator in South St. Paul. He passed many of his skills on to his children, always modeling hard work, strength, and shared his knowledge of many things. He was able to take his kids to 48 states, Canada, and Mexico through many family trips with a van and pop-up camper. Dennis loved deer hunting with his sons and sons-in-law, being in the woods, and being on his tractors out in the fields. He lived for his vacations with Annabelle to Tombstone, Ariz., each spring.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents; and his father-in-law, William Gooder. He is survived by his wife, Annabelle; nine children: Shawn (Allison) of Blaine, Patrick (Katie) of Pine City, Melissa (Justin) Strey of Prior Lake, Kyle (Katie) of Esko, Laura (Sam) Nordby of Sartell, Elizabeth (Butch) Dahl of Pine River, Andrew (Gwen) of Cloquet, Steven (Jenny) of Foley, Dennis (Christy) of Cromwell; 27 grandchildren and one little girl due in August; sisters, Marilyn (Bob) Smith of Eaton, Colo., Adrianne (John) Gyllen of St. Croix Falls, Wis., Anne (Lee) Kolquist of Geneva, Ill.; mother-in-law, Evelyn Gooder of Duluth; brothers-in-law, Bill (Katie) Gooder of Duluth, Ted (Korlyn) Gooder of St. Paul; sisters-in-law, Sis (Jim) Krezowski of McGregor and Diane (Ralph) Doty of Florida.

Visitation: Tuesday, April 3, from 5-7 p.m. with a wake service beginning at 7 p.m. at Nelson Funeral Care in Cloquet. The visitation will resume on Wednesday, April 4 from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Cloquet, followed by a luncheon in the church social hall. Interment services will follow at Sandy Lake Cemetery. The family has selected Nelson Funeral Care of Cloquet to assist them with arrangements. See their online guest book at www.nelsonfuneralcare.net

Tags: obituaries

Sign the guestbook (2 comments)

Comments posted on this page do not reflect opinions of Forum Communications Company. Forum Communications Company does not endorse and is not responsible for any statement, opinion, advice given or made. All replies are subject to approval and must follow Forum Communications Company guidelines concerning statements of libel, personal attacks or defamation of character. Replies in the "Talk About It" section that criticize a person by name may not be posted, unless that person is openly involved in a public issue. Comments written in all capital letters or bold print will not be considered for inclusion in the forum.

Terms & Conditions