Alexander P. Grymala

Alex P. “Axel” Grymala was a larger-than-life character for more than 80 years throughout Douglas County. Alex closed his eyes for the last time on March 8, 2024, after a brief illness. He was comforted by many friends and family members during his last few hours.
Alex was born in Superior to Ila (Maki) Grymala and Alex “Ole” Grymala on April 11,1939. Shortly after he was born, his parents moved to Poplar where they bought one of the two general stores. There are magazine pictures at the Richard I. Bong Memorial Airport of him as a toddler in the arms of Major Richard Bong in the Poplar family store.
After the end of WW-2 his parents bought the Allouez Mercantile store. In 1948 they sold the Allouez Mercantile store, which the new owners turned into the President’s Tavern. The family, including Alex’s brother Kenneth, moved to an 80-acre farm at 4-Corners. The house did not have electricity, running water, nor a phone for the first few years they lived there.
Alex started school at St. Adelbert’s three-room school in East End. After moving to the farm, he started at the 4-Corners two-room Bankston School. There was no indoor plumbing and only a wood stove for heat. It only had a hand pump and outhouses behind the school. The school bus was a modified panel truck with wooden benches for seats and driven by a volunteer from Foxboro.
He quickly adapted to the farm and was soon helping milk the cows, tending to the pigs and chickens, learning to drive the tractor, and making hay. He soon began hanging around, and then working, at Larry and Laverne Anderson’s 4-Corners service station and tractor dealership. He also worked diagonally across 4-Corners at Emil Fritz’s farm. As a pre-teen he became Mr. Fritz’s trusted 3-horse team driver and handler.
After Bangston he attended the former East High School and graduated with the class of 1957. About his 10th grade year, his friends of Norwegian and Swedish ancestry, started calling him “Axel” instead of Alex. The name stuck for the rest of his life.

After graduation, Alex built his first moonshine still. He started making moonshine in the basement of his parent’s store that was located across from the former East High School at 18th Avenue and East 5th street. His parents threw him and his still out. That did not deter him. It was one way that he and his friends always had something to celebrate with on St. Urho’s Day.
In Superior he quickly made close friends with two different gas/service station owners in Superior. By the time he was 21, one of those mentors helped him buy a Standard Oil Service and Gas Station at 63rd and Tower Avenue. Through his wrecker service he made friends with many in local law enforcement. They knew one of his many hobbies included scuba diving. He was tasked a number of times to search the waters in the Douglas County area.
One of his other nearly lifelong hobbies was private piloting. He and friends owned a number of different planes over about 60 years. They also had a hot air balloon and an old bi-wing airplane. For many years one of his great adventures was flying with friends to Phoenix, AZ for their monthly haircuts. He still enjoyed having breakfast with his friends at the airport until shortly before his death.
In his late teens, Alex bought land at the end of Person Lake in Wascott. Several years later, after building a cabin on the property, he became a noted local hero for his participation in “The Monster Minong Fire of 1977. A book written by Bill Mathias devotes a section on how Alex provided a large pump and access to Person Lake’s water for the tanker trucks. He had a very large summer supply of beer in his root cellar where it was cool. He gave it all away to the firefighters when they came to refill it with water.
After a few years of running the service station, he was recruited by the City of Superior where he quickly became the manager of the City of Superior “Garage.”  He oversaw the maintenance of all of Superior’s police cars, graders, garbage trucks, and other heavy equipment. Before big snowstorms he would reserve a cell in the Superior jail to sleep in. At that time, the jail was across the parking lot from the City Garage on Broadway. If the jail were full, he would sleep in a sleeping bag on the top of a garbage truck inside the city garage where it was warm.
One of his prouder accomplishments as a city employee, was helping design and build a new park. The mayor asked him for a final review of the plans. He jokingly added an emblazoned “Mugger’s Bench” in front of a row of bushes along one of the walkways. The mayor accepted the addition.
Next, Detroit Edison asked Alex to manage and oversee the building of what is now the Midwest Energy coal dock in Superior.
Before retiring from the coal dock, he was elected the Village of Superior President. He served many years and retired when he turned 70 years old. He was replaced by a new president. At the next election Alex was not on the ballot. But he was again elected for one more term as a write-in candidate. He brought in large amounts of long-term funding for the Village by attracting telecommunication and energy infrastructure contracts. One of his proudest accomplishments was the building of a park and playground in the Village.

Alex is survived by his sons Jim Grymala, Hawthore, WI and John (Linda) Grymala, Superior; stepchildren Travis (Stephanie) Krause and Becca (Paul) Narverud; several grandchildren; and brother Ken Grymala, Virgina.
He is preceded in death by his beloved wife Paulette Martineau and his parents.

A Celebration of Alex’s Life will be held at a later date.

The Lenroot-Maetzold Funeral Home. 1209 E. 5th Street in Superior, is assisting the family with arrangements.