Obituary of Donald Haapoja

Donald Haapoja 1937-2021

Predeceased by Margaret, his wife of 54 years, parents Fred and Martha Haapoja, and brother Gary. Survived by children Tom (Terri) & Amy (Chad), grandson Levi, and sister Doris.

Ambitious and hardworking, Don began working at 16 as a delivery boy for Lynch’s Store in Calumet. He also served in the National Guard, and worked at the Hill Annex mine in Calumet for a few years. He then went through Blandin Paper Company’s apprentice program to become an electrician, and retired from that company after 31 years of service.

He and Margaret married in the summer of 1964. They purchased property on a lake, and with the help of family, built a home, two garages, a sauna and a greenhouse on the property. Don logged all of the dimensional lumber they used to build their home. Margaret and Don lived on their beloved lakefront property the rest of their lives.

Don was a passionate duck hunter in his youth, and loved camping trips with friends to the BWCA. He later enjoyed fishing trips with family and friends to Lac Seul and other Canadian lakes. He and Margaret enjoyed annual trips with the pickup camper and RV through the western US and Canadian Rockies. During retirement, Don spent many enjoyable hours caring for a pine plantation he planted on an old field at the edge of their property, and riding shotgun while teaching his grandson, Levi, how to drive the side by side.

At this time, the family is not planning to hold a memorial service. In lieu of flowers, if you are so moved, please plant a tree through the link on the Cremation Society of MN website, or make a donation to the DNR Future Forests Fund (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/grants/gifts/future_forests.html email: futureforest.dnr@state.mn.us).