Mass of Christian Burial
The Church of St. Joseph the Worker-
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Email Details
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7180 Hemlock Lane North,
Maple Grove, MN 55369 -
Visitation one hour prior to Mass.
Eugene Joseph Minnich
January 10, 1932 — December 29, 2019
Eugene Joseph Minnich
Eugene Joseph Minnich of Maple Grove, MN died peacefully on Sunday, December 29 th , 2019, surrounded by loving family, just 12 days shy of his eighty-eighth birthday.
“Grandpa Geno”, as he was affectionately known to his 100+ descendants, was born January 10, 1932 in Bryant, Indiana to Adam and Hilda (Omlor) Minnich, the fourth of eight children.
He spoke often and happily of his time on the family farm in Indiana as a youth, waking up before the sun to milk the cows, finding the holy water in his room frozen, and getting to sleep in on his birthday and eat his mother’s homemade ice cream.
He was a great athlete, playing basketball and baseball on the high school team and earning a tryout with the Boston Red Sox as a catcher. After graduating high school, Gene enlisted in the United States Navy where he served for four years during the Korean War, learning the engineering skills that would make his career. He also met his first wife, Mary Ann Jacobs (b. 9/2/1933; d. 5/1/1997) during this time.
Gene and Mary Ann were married on September 12, 1953 in Robbinsdale, MN and lived on base in Norfolk, VA and on the Naval base on the island of Bermuda until October 1955. After Bermuda, they settled first in Robbinsdale, MN before building their family home in Crystal, where they raised their 7 children: Jim (Lorrie) Minnich, Kathy Shrode ((Tom) d. 8/25/1998), Joe, Mike (Antoinette), Bill (Kathy), Tom (Julie) and John (Susan). They belonged to St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Crystal and were active parishioners as well as active member of the Knights of Columbus, winning Minnesota Family of the Year in 1989. Gene’s faith was a major tenet of his life, and he shared that faith and passed it along to his family and many friends.
Grandpa led our family in difficult times as well, losing both his wife of 43 years and his only daughter Kathy in a span of 15 months between May 1997 and August 1998. Grandpa’s steadfast faith, commitment to family, and strength of character brought us closer together during this trying time, and we remain so to this day thanks to his guidance.
In 2000, Gene was again rewarded for a life well lived when he met Virginia Bergman. Ginnie was a great match for Gene in many ways, not the least of which was a shared faith in God and family. They were married on October 27, 2000 surrounded by their combined families, including Ginnie’s children (Bart Bergman, Dave (Jodi)Bergman, Chris (Greg) Chandler, Barb (Ron) Renner, Beth (Andy) Phillips and Glen (Deb) Bergman). They moved into the home they would share for nearly 20 years in Maple Grove, MN. There is no doubt that having Ginnie in his life provided Gene with extended health and happiness – she asked him to promise her 10 good years together, and together they nearly doubled that promise! This was truly a gift to all of their family.
Gene and Ginnie spent their days traveling, going for walks, playing games, spending time with friends and meeting new friends. Their favorite activity was attending the many, many family events of their 33 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren. They would spend time in the winter in Florida, and Grand Rapids in the summer fishing and playing games with Ginnie’s family. Grandpa loved to golf and a foursome with 3 of his children or grandchildren was always preferred. He was a skilled and intelligent game player, whether a card game, ping-pong, yard games – it didn’t matter, Grandpa wasn’t going to let you win!
Grandpa loved nothing more than time spent with family, instilling this same love and faith to all his children, their spouses and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He relished in playing games with his family, especially cribbage. Gene was a champion cribbage player and had the hardware to prove it. He taught the game to his children and grandchildren and spent many hours winning 2 out of 3. Marbles and Jokers became his game of choice in his later years – likely because he could play with 8 family members at once!
Gene was always extremely handy, continually improving his own homes by building garages, decks and changing the interior make-up to suit his growing family and allowing for more fun with visiting family and friends. Grandpa was also the first call to make when any of his children or grandchildren bought a home and needed electrical work done, a shower or bathroom tiled, a ceiling fan hung, or a garbage disposal installed.
Gene became a brilliant engineer in his career, working over 20 years with Sci-Med, a medical device company. Gene helped to design machines that built an artificial lung as well as the building and maintenance of “clean room” environments for the lifesaving products Sci-Med produced. Upon his retirement in 1994, there was a great hole at the company – how do you train someone to replace the man who quite literally helped build the company?
Gene also loved to support the local sports teams, and watching the Twins, Vikings, Gophers and especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren play was one of his greatest joys. His optimism and support of these teams was contagious, and he loved spending time with family watching these events or listening to the Twins on WCCO in the garage while tinkering around on a project.
Grandpa Geno was a true light in this world, and there are countless people whose lives he has touched. His deep faith, commitment to family, strong work ethic and bright smile has improved the lives of so many. In his passing, we are sad to no longer share in this earthly light. However, the help, support and love he has shared with so many of us will now only continue to grow stronger. We love you Grandpa!
In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the charity of your choosing in his name
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Eugene Joseph Minnich, please visit our flower store.
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