Memorials
Introduction
This section is dedicated to all the deceased classmates and offers some information about each person in what the Memorial Committee has called a "snippet." The Commitee uses various sources to compile a snippet. Some information has come directly from friends, family, classmates, partners, and spouses. Other sources include Ancestry.com, Twin Cities and other local newspaper obituaries, many online resources including the SLP Class of '69 Facebook page. The committee wishes to thank Alan Perlman for managing and maintaining that Facebook page, which announces whenever we've lost a classmate.
As of September 2024, 128 classmates have passed away, representing about 16.5% of the class.
Disclaimer: Every attempt has been made to verify or link multiple data sets to confirm that the data for each classmate is correct. However, if anything found to be incorrect, we apologize. Or feel free to contact Lesley Blicker with changes needed at: lablick@comcast.net.
WANT TO VIEW JUST A LIST OF THE NAMES OF THE DECEASED CLASSMATES?
Then please visit the In Memorium page.
It's our privilege to serve as the Class of '69 Memorial Committee:
- Caryn Goldberg, Chair
- Harvey Zuckman
- Lesley Blicker
The Memorials begin at the bottom of this page. They contain the most information found or learned about each classmate. However, you can view an abbreviated version of the memorials by clicking on the PDF file below. You can even download it or print it out for later viewing.
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Don't See Your Loved One's Memorial?
Please do NOT create a new memorial. Instead, please email whatever you would like it to say to: Lesley Blicker at lablick@comcast.net. Two to three paragraphs is ideal, but it can be longer, if desired. Please include the link to your loved one's obituary. And if you wish to include a recent photo of your loved one, then send just one photo. We wish we could post more, but the software won't allow it. We do have all classmates' senior yearbook photos, so no need to send that.
Have Additional Info to Add?
Use the Tribute Function. Find the person and then add a tribute using the red text box link below the person's memorial.
Using the Sort Function
Memorials will appear in alphabetical order by last name at time of graduation. However, you can search any name in the search bar below, or sort by any of the options listed in the pull down menu.
Richard (Ricky) Drucker
1951-05-09 2006-07-20
Ricky died in 2006 at the age of 55.
He found great joy in traveling the world with trips to Israel, Australia, Japan, and Las Vegas. He also enjoyed watching sports and spending time with his family and friends.
Full obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/twincities/name/richard-drucker-obituary?id=6670946
Kent Erickson
1951-09-14 1971-03-29
Sadly Kent was killed in the Viet Nam War in 1971 at the age of 19.
A classmate remembers Kent sitting in front of her in Social Studies class. She recalls that Kent never had to study for a test; he was just that smart! When he told her he was going to drop out of school to enlist in the service, she tried talking him out of it. Kent was a nice person and very mature for his age.
Allan Finkelstein
1950-11-28 2004-01-12
Allan died in 2004 at the age of 53.
Allan had been an employee of the Doubletree Hotel for 21 years. He was involved in volunteer work that included the Boy Scouts. He was also a sports enthusiast.
Lynn (Alan) Folkens
1950-12-07 1995-08-03
Known as Alan to classmates, he died in 1995 at the age of 44.
No additional information was found.
Donald Fritz
1951-08-10 1999-07-27
Donald passed away on in 1999 at the age of 48.
No other information was found.
Edward Gale
1951-01-21 2016-06-01
Eddie passed away in 2016 at the age of 65.
He is survived by brothers, Stanley, Allan (Linda) and Neal (Sandy); nieces, nephews and other loving family and friends. Edward was a longtime employee of the University of Minnesota Law Library.
Ed enjoyed a close group of friends and had keen interests in politics, science, meteorology, and professional wrestling. He earned an MA in Economics from the University of Minnesota. Ed worked in the Law School Library for over 30 years. He died from a fatal heart attack.
Full obituary: https://www.twincities.com/obituaries/edward-h-gale-st-paul-mn/
Ricki Gale
1951-06-18 2011-05-03
Ricki Gale died in 2011 at the age of 59 of metastatic colon cancer.
All who knew Ricki were enraptured with her dark curly locks and soul-warming smile. She was hilarious, creative, and palpably cool.
After graduating college in the early 70's, Ricki broke ground as one of the first female record promotion representatives in the nation. She worked passionately to establish the careers of numerous artists.
Her indomitable spirit made her a wonderful mother, Girl Scout leader and friend. Her sense of humor and infectious laughter were unparalleled.
Full obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/ricki-gale-obi...
Colleen Leemon (Gallagher)
1951-08-19 2022-02-06
Colleen Leemon (Gallagher), of Forest Lake, Minnesota, passed away in 2022 at the age of 70 of cancer.
Colleen is survived by her husband of 47 years, Ronald; son, Trevor; grandchildren, Tristan, Trinity and Tyler; newly discovered half-brother, Ken; and many friends and family members.
After graduating from St. Louis Park High School and St. Cloud State College, Colleen worked as an accountant, and worked with school finance data at both the district and state level. Colleen began her employment with Independent School District No. 624 in White Bear Lake. During the next ten years, Leemon held several administrative positions for the district and ultimately ad...
LeeAnn Parks (Getzug)
1951-11-01 2015-03-05
LeeAnn passed away in 2015 at age 63 due to complications from M.S.
She was married to classmate Gregory Parks. They gave birth to a beautiful daughter Shoshaunna, who is happy, well, and living in San Jose. California.
William (Bill) Gingrass
1950-10-11 2010-07-21
Bill died in 2010 at the age of 59.
Bill was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of Wooddale Lutheran Church his entire life.
Comments from friends:
>I will remember Bill as a fellow athlete at Park High. I was a year behind Bill and remember having to wrestle him during practice as well as playing along side him in football. You are in my thoughts and prayer during this time.
>The memories of Bill on the football team of 69 remain to this day, I will miss him
Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/william-gingrass-obituary?pid=144580490
Greg Giswold
1951-10-02 2018-12-04
Greg passed away in 2018 at the age of 67.
“A skilled sailor works with the wind to chart the best course.” Greg was a husband, father, musician, and engineer. He played in bands called Bluebird and The Oh Boys. Greg was a great keyboard player, soloist, and vocalist. No one could do “scat” vocals like “Dweez” (one of Greg’s nicknames). He always made people feel great about themselves. Family was the most important thing to him. He is survived by Marcia Cole, his wife of 41 years, their son Edgar, and daughter, Nell.
Full obituary: https://cremationsocietyofmn.com/tribute/details/12568/Gregg-Giswold/obituary.html
Karen Joy Goldstein
1951-09-27 2022-03-14
Karen passed away in 2022 at the age of 70. Apparently Karen had somewhat recovered from Covid and then developed pneumonia and kidney disease, passing away at Sholom Home West.
The following information was submitted by friends and classmates of Karen's.
Karen was a hard worker, who was a devoted employee of Snyder’s Drug Store at Miracle Mile for decades, serving as a Pharmacy Tech. Karen was great with kids, even though she never had any of her own. She enjoyed babysitting, and going to Las Vegas! She was “kind, loving, a hard worker, and enjoyed traveling”.
Karen devoted her life to caring for others. She was very devoted to her parents, an...
Steve Goldstein
1951-06-21 2019-07-15
Steve died in 2019 at the age of 68. A non-smoker, he lost his 10-year battle with lung cancer.
Classmates will remember him as student council president during our senior year and in many school drama performances.
He had a number of prominent jobs including general manager of WCCO Radio and president of the University of Minnesota Foundation.
Steve discovered painting in college and now over 400 pieces of his art live on in friends’ and families’ homes. Steve always built a sense of community, friendship, and love, and had an abundance of great stories that will live on forever. Steve died shortly before the 50th reunion, where he was deeply mi...
Barbara Cotter (Gravenish)
1951-08-03 2013-11-01
Barbara passed away in 2013 at the age of 62.
She died on Friday, November 1, 2013 at Crestview Lutheran Home. On July 2, 1983, she married Arthur Lawrence “Larry” Cotter. Together, they were able to share in 20 years of marriage.
Barbara is survived by her brothers, Michael (Nellie) & James (Linda) Gravenish as well as four nieces and other friends and relatives.
Obituary: https://memorials.kozlakradulovich.com/barbara-cotter/1705312/obituary.php
Susan Grudt
1951-01-28 1983-09-22
Susan passed away on September 22, 1983 at the age of 32.
No other information was found.
Mark Gruesner
1951-11-27 2022-11-07
Mark died in 2022 at the age of 70 from Parkinson's disease.
Mark H. Gruesner, loving husband, father, grandfather “Bappi”, passed away at his home, surrounded by family, after suffering from Parkinson's disease. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Carolyn, daughter, Lauren (Mike Percic), and three grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Cookie Hosfield (Rick) and many other family members.
Mark knew at an early age that he wanted to become an attorney. He graduated from the University of Minnesota earning a B.A. in Speech Communications before earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1977 from Hamline University School of Law. After practicing at sever...
Diana Randall (Hamilton)
1951-09-22 2022-01-04
Diana Maun Randall, of West Fargo, ND died in 2022 at the age of 70 at Sanford hospital surrounded by family.
She was born on September 22, 1951, to William and Maxine (Donovan) Hamilton in Estherville, Iowa. The Hamilton family moved to St. Louis Park, MN when Maun was a teenager and she graduated from SLP high school in 1969. She went to work for Target Corporation where she met Dick Randall. Dick and Diana married in 1976. In 1978, Target corporation transferred them to Fargo ND where they raised their family.
Maun enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren as well as other family and friends. She and her husband spent time annually at Breezy Point since...
John Hawkins
1951-09-17 2011-03-09
John passed away in 2011 at the age of 59.
He lived in Wayzata, Minnesota and served proudly as CEO of Hawkins, Inc. since February 2000.
Comments from friends:
>Anyone who has had the pleasure to work with and to get to know John will carry his laughter, good nature and smile with them always; he will be sincerely missed.
>We have so many fond memories of John from the cabin on Whitefish – the fourth of July with all the fireworks, boats, 4-wheelers, dogs, the building of the cabins over the years, the farm, trips to the Ideal store, water-skiing and the cook-outs. We have been fortunate to have known John.
>John'...
Kim Hawkinson
1950-05-18 2020-11-08
Kim passed away at the age of 70 on November 8th, 2020.
Kim grew up in St. Louis Park and served two tours in Vietnam in the Army. Kim was a reserved introvert and a compassionate listener with a unique perspective on life. He loved watching sports, playing cards/games, gambling at the horse track and hanging out with his BFF the TV. Kim is survived by his daughter Blair (Mike) and granddaughter Keira Okey, significant other Claudette Knowles, and brothers.
Full obituary: https://tinyurl.com/2p9cx4r8
Larry Hofler
1950-07-22 2016-09-15
Larry died in 2016 at the age of 66.
Larry Allen Hofler, of Knoxville, died at Accura Healthcare in Knoxville. He was born on July 22, 1950 in Des Moines, Iowa to Ward Frank and Letha (Wales) Hofler. Larry was a farmer. He was a boy scout in his younger years, and his faith was also very important to him.