George W. Saksa, 81, of Duluth, died in St. Mary's Medical, Duluth on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007. George was born on Feb. 14, 1925 and was the youngest of 13 children of John and Emma (Josephson) Sakes, a Finnish-American Farm Family at Annandale, Minn. He was baptized and confirmed in the Apostolic Lutheran Church at Cokato. As an adult he was an active member in Zion Lutheran, in Cloquet, Zion Lutheran in Grand Rapids, and Concordia Lutheran in Duluth. He has served on the church councils, was church treasurer, taught Sunday School, served as Bible study leader, lecturer, usher, and event organizer. He was proud of his Finnish heritage and belonged to the Jarvenpaa Finnish American Historical Society. He also served on the Board of Gramercy Park Cooperative, Duluth. He was a Professor Emeritus of the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Prior to his positions with the University, he served in Grand Rapids as Itasca County Rural Development Agent and as Agriculture Agent. After moving to Duluth, he was the Arrowhead Area Program Coordinator and later was the Northeast District Extension Director. Prior to retiring, he served as Team Leader for the University of Minnesota Caribbean Agricultural Extension Project and lived in Dominica for 2 1/2 years. He was a World War II veteran serving in the U.S. Navy. He was preceded in death by his parents and 10 siblings. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, of 55 years; three daughters, Mary Kay (Bob) Csanyi of Kernersville, N.C., Ann Marie (Mike) Edwards of Duluth, MN, Ellen (John) Matarzynski of Wake Forest, N.C.; and a son, Dr. Eric (Tammy) Saksa of Duluth, Minn.; grandchildren, Christopher and Marissa Csanyi, Nathan, Aaron, and Maijaliisa Edwards, Anja and Anders Saksa, and Alisa Matarzynski; he is also survived by two sisters, Beatrice Raisanen of Brighton, Mich. and Florence (Jack) Miller of Seattle, Wash.; and three sister-in-laws, Agnes Saksa, Vi Saksa, and Mildred Saksa, and many other relatives and close friends. VISITATION:5-7 p.m. Jan. 24th in Dougherty Funeral Home, 600 E. Second Street. Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, Jan. 25th in Concordia Lutheran Church, 2501 Woodland Avenue, Duluth, Minn. at 2 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service. Committal service will be held at Ft. Snelling on Friday at 1:15 p.m. Memorials preferred to Concordia Lutheran Church, Duluth. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home, 600 E. 2nd St, Duluth, MN 55805, 218-727-3555.
Published in the Duluth News Tribune on 1/23/2007.