Bernard Leroy St. George

Bernard Leroy St. George (Mukwa), 83, died Thursday, June 23, 2016, at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth. He was born on July 5, 1932, in Wauwatosa, WI. Bernie started working at the age of 11, delivering the Superior Evening Telegram and setting pins at a bowling alley in Superior.

When he was fourteen, he started spending his summers hitchhiking to Door County, Wisconsin, with his cousin Jim "Chief" Durfee, to pick cherries. At 16 he ran off with the circus, working as a roustabout. After he graduated from high school Bernie got a job on the ships in the Great Lakes, where he spent his down time in the Twin Ports with his girl friend, Nelda Slick. Just before Bernie and Nelda got married (September 18, 1951), Bernie stopped working the ships and got a job at the cement plant in Morgan Park. When that shut down, he got a job at the steel plant there; when that closed, he started working at Minntac/U.S. Steel in Mt. Iron, MN, where he eventually retired as a master electrician.

After retirement, Bernie and Nelda sold their house and got rid of everything that didn't fit in their RV. They spent the next ten years traveling the United States, visiting every state but Hawaii and Idaho. They have spent the last four years living in Hermantown, MN. Bernie was a proud member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. His maternal grandfather's family was from White Earth and from Canada; his maternal grandmother's family hearkens back to Joseph Osaugie, headman to the Fond du Lac Band and signatory of the Treaty of 1854. Bernie was a member of the Northern St. Louis County, MN, and Douglas County, WI, Rescue Squads, and the USWA Local 1938.

Bernie is survived by his wife Nelda; two daughters, Marie Elaine (Lonnie) Houck, Greensboro, NC, and Rebecca June St. George, Duluth, MN; four sons, Victor Lucius (Karen) St. George, Duluth, MN, James Rex St. George (Mark Sullivan), world travelers, William Francis (Jane) St. George, Fairbanks, AK, and Albert Leo (Anita) St. George, Encinitas, CA; nine grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren; three sisters, Phyllis Wick, Darlene Gustafson, and Leola Beckwell; two brothers, Albert “Butch” Rutkowski and Steve Rutkowski.

Visitation will be from 5:00 – 8:00 PM, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at Zion Lutheran Church, 2022 E. 2nd Street, Superior, WI. There will be a traditional pipe ceremony at 6:00. Visitation will resume on Wednesday, June 29, 2016, at 10:00 AM at Zion Lutheran Church and will continue until the 11:00 AM memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Bernard’s name to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, 7301 Ohms Lane, Suite 355, Minneapolis, MN 55439.

The Downs-LeSage Funeral Home, 1304 Hammond Avenue, Superior is assisting the family with arrangements. To leave an online condolence or to sign the guestbook, please visit www.downs-lesage.com .