Obituary of Vilnis Vilinskis

Vilnis Vilinskis and or Vil for short with a nickname: The Supreme Commander lived in Burnsville, MN for most of his life but loved to vacation in his second home the Cayman Islands. Born in Liepaja, Latvia on May, 27th, 1944. Died December 15th, 2021 at 11pm at 77 years old. Vilnis passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's/Dementia (diagnosed 2012) and prostate cancer.

Vilnis’s parents were Voldemars Vilinskis and Matilda Gulbis Vilinskis. Vilnis lived in displaced person camps in various parts of Europe for the first 5 years of his life due to a war torn country the Nazis and Russians were trying to take over Latvia. Vllnis’s father Voldemars was in the 19th division of the Latvian Army he stayed to fight for Latvia’s independence but was captured by the Nazis. At age six Vilnis arrived on a boat in the NYC harbor with his mom Matilda and older sister Vija.

Vilnis, his mom and sister eventually relocated to Minneapolis MN, where he attended high school (and met his sweetheart Joan Bjergen.) Vilnis joined the US military and was in the Army’s 82nd Airborne for four years (from Oct. 31st, 1962 - Sept 19th, 1965.) Vilnis loved jumping out of airplanes. Once out of the army Vilnis married his high school sweetheart Joan Bjergen on June 3rd, 1966 and had three children: Krista, Scott and Kari. They lived in Minneapolis and were married for 15 years and divorced on May 1st, 1981. Vilnis’s second marriage was to Cynthia Flatguard on Jan 20th, 1982 and they had two children: Zachary and Chad. They lived in Burnsville and were married for 25 years and divorced on Dec.11th, 2007. Vilnis’s girlfriend/partner of 10 years was Mickey Sayers. Vil loved to hike and travel with Mickey.

Vilnis was an entrepreneur; he ran his own companies; he started in the mobile home and shoe selling business and eventually owned a movie/video rental business for years; he had a couple stores and loved movies and telling jokes to customers. Vil was also a big fan of comic books and music as a kid he had quite the record collection too. He loved listening to 50s music such as: Buddy Holly, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Beach Boys, Beatles, The Shirelles and also loved listening to Gordon Lightfoot, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Linda Ronstadt, John Fogerty and so much more. Vil lived to tell jokes, he loved to make people laugh and was obsessed with hiking all over MN and in Idaho too (he lived in Idaho from 2009-2012) and his favorite mountain to hike was the Sawtooth Mountains, his home away from home.

Vilnis was a dreamer, a charmer, a joker, a hiker, a lover of music and an even bigger lover of nature and Indian artwork to which he loved to collect. Vil had a 6 foot wood carving of a “mountain man” to which we all lovingly referred to as dad. Vilnis had a deep love for the woods, a place he would go often to think and be alone and to find his spiritual side. Vil had a huge smile, one that you would never forget and always remember. He will be dearly missed.

Survived by older sister Vija: his two nieces: Debbie and Angie and two nephews: David and Danny. His oldest daughter Krista, her husband Eric, their kids Aiden and Riley; his son Scott and his two kids Adyson and Scotty Jr; his daughter Kari her partner Lance their two kids Gavin and Sam; his son Zachary and his wife Duong; his youngest son Chad, his wife Erin and their two kids; Andi and Finley.

There will be two ceremonies for Vilnis first one will be held at Fort Snelling on Friday, January 7th at 9:15am sharp (don’t be late) Gate 2/Area 6 for the urn burial and military 21 Gun Salute. Vilnis’s Celebration of Life is the next day on Saturday, January 8th from 2-4 pm at Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church 3152 17th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407. Pastor Lize Larsen will be speaking about Vilnis and some of his children will share some memories of their father. Masks are required. In lieu of Flowers, memorials preferred to the Latvian Evangelical Church.