BRUCE RAYMOND WICKSTROM
Bruce Raymond Wickstrom, 75, died peacefully Sunday, June 24, 2012, with his loving family by his side, at Essentia Health St. Mary's Medical Center, following pancreatic cancer treatment for five months.
Bruce Raymond Wickstrom, 75, died peacefully Sunday, June 24, 2012, with his loving family by his side, at Essentia Health St. Mary's Medical Center, following pancreatic cancer treatment for five months.
Bruce was born Jan. 12, 1937, in Duluth, the only child of C. Raymond and Gladys Wickstrom.
Bruce was a 1955 graduate of Hermantown High School. On March 28, 1958, he married Donetta Coban.
Bruce was an ordained Deacon and Financial Secre tary at Westminster Presby terian Church and a current member of Glen Avon Presbyterian Church.
Bruce served six years with the 179th Minnesota Air National Guard, Duluth from 1954-1960. He was a member of the Drum and Bugle Corp for several years.
Throughout his working career, Bruce held many sales positions with Singer Sewing Machine Co., Beechnut-Lifesavers, Curtiss Industries, Ace Hardware and Billman's Home Center. He was known as "Beechnut Bruce" on the local Bozo and Mr. Toot TV shows.
Bruce was also a co-owner with Tom Nevin of W/N Construction, building contractors of homes and garages, and later started Bruce Wickstrom Construc tion. He was a member of the Arrowhead Builders Association and served a term as their president. Since retirement, Bruce found enjoyment in creating wood furniture for family, friends and church.
He was an indexer and arbitrator of over 80,000 Genealogical records for Family Search.com.
Bruce enjoyed traveling and RV camping with family and friends over the years. He was a die-hard fan and season ticket holder for the UMD Men's and Women's Hockey teams for nearly 50 years, beginning with their first games played at the DECC on through the past season, celebrating UMD's six NCAA hockey championships.
Of special interest to Bruce were the efforts of Operation Migration, an organization dedicated to reintroduction of an eastern migratory population of Whooping Cranes.
Bruce is survived by his wife of 54 years, Donetta; daughter Julie Rae Wickstrom of Fridley, Minn.; son Bryce (Donna) Wickstrom of St. Paul; granddaughter Kellie Rae Goddard of Duluth; two step-granddaughters, LeAnn (Kevin) Klein and Michelle Schall, and step-great-grandson Christopher Dawson, all of St. Paul; and brother-in-law Donald (Virginia) Coban of Rapid City, S.D.
In lieu of flowers or plants, memorials are preferred to the Glen Avon Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, UMD Women's and Men's Hockey Program Funds at http://www.d.umn.edu/development/Athletics.html and Operation Migration at http://operationmigration.org/contribute.htm or donor's charity of choice.
VISITATION: 1 p.m. until the 2 p.m. service Saturday, June 30, in Glen Avon Presbyterian Church, 2105 Woodland Ave., Duluth.
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