Roger Birkeland, 85

A Funeral Service for Roger A. Birkeland of Baudette, MN, was held on Monday, June 5, 2023, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baudette, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will take place at Silver Creek Cemetery in Baudette. 

Roger Allen Birkeland, 85, passed away Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at the Warroad Senior Living Center.

He was born August 27, 1937, the second oldest of five children to Herman and Ruth Birkeland in Minneapolis. He graduated from Minneapolis Roosevelt High School in 1955 and soon after joined the U.S. Air Force. 

While serving in the Air Force, and later for General Electric, and as a U. S. Civil Service employee, he made lasting friendships with those he worked with. 

While working for GE in 1961, he met a girl named Carol Rivard in the Baudette, MN, bowling alley. He liked bowling, and he really liked Carol. She liked his crew cut and flashy new ’61 Oldsmobile. That led to a walk down the aisle in Dec. 1962 and 60 years of life together. They raised four kids and several family dogs, including Buddy, Ginger, Frosty, and Ruby. They enjoyed sports, fishing, hunting, and a “cabin by the creek” that became their full-time home after moving back to Baudette (again) upon retirement. 

The last 13 years of their walk included a long journey with Lewy Body Dementia. 

He enjoyed much of his adult life in Baudette, his adopted hometown. He worked at the U.S. Air Force Base when he met Carol in the early ‘60s, and after five years working in numerous cities across the country with GE, the young couple moved back to Baudette in 1966. By that time, they had a daughter Lynn and a son Mike. Sons, Steve and Brent, joined the family while living in Baudette until the base closed in 1979. 

His final job took him to Duluth, MN, where he retired from his career as a civil servant with the National Weather Service in April 1995. Roger and family lived in nearby Proctor, where many wonderful friends still reside.

While living in Baudette during the ‘70’s he coached youth hockey, starting with the Mites, then Squirts, followed by the Pee Wees. These were some of his most enjoyable times – teaching dozens of boys how to skate, pass, forecheck, and backcheck! His vocal approach at practice and on the bench remains seared into the minds of the boys – who went on to win a fair share of big games back in the day! 

He was also a member of the First Lutheran Church in Baudette and sang in their choir for many years. Faith in Christ was a quiet but important part of his life.

After moving back to Baudette for the third and final time, he finished the family cabin along the Silver Creek, near Carol’s home place. As his family grew, he cherished memories made during Christmas gatherings and summer get-togethers that included ultra-competitive yard games, cribbage matches, and golf tournaments, along with bonfires, fishing on Lake of the Woods, and hunting for deer, grouse (and more than a few squirrels!).