BERTHA ARLENE MERCELLA BOTTJEN  88, Ely,  passed away in the presence of her loving husband Duane. Bertha was born on the 17th of July, 1931, in Newcastle, Nebraska, to Adolph Gunderson and Marie nee Swenson.  She graduated from Central High School in Sioux City, Iowa in 1949, and was employed as a comptometer operator in the office of Younker-Davidson retail store in Sioux City.  She married Duane Arnold Bottjen on July 10, 1950, in Sioux City, Iowa and accompanied him...

DARLENE “Dar” MARIE BACH, 70, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 12, 2019 in Duluth surrounded by family. She was born on September 28, 1949 in Virginia, MN to Frank and Angela Pucel and later married and had two children. She remarried Floyd Bach on May 5, 1990 in Ely and they enjoyed the little things in life such as bowling, playing cards, dancing and trips to the casino where she tried her luck. Darlene was a hard worker and held many jobs in her life, but she was...

Harvey L. Hvezda III, 52, of Ely, passed away on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 in Ely. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2019, starting  at 1:00 P.M. at Veteran's on the Lake. Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.

Dolores Rom, 89, of Ely, passed away on Sunday, August 11, 2019 in Virginia. A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2019 at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Ely at 11:30 A.M.  Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.

Gary Blauert died peacefully October 9, 2019, surrounded by his family after a three-year battle with complications of a blood disease. Gary Herman Blauert was born on October 8, 1943, to Herman and Arlene Blauert in Grand Rapids, MN.  The Blauert family, with sister Linda and brother Jimmy, lived in Bovey, MN, throughout Gary’s childhood. Gary graduated from Greenway High School in 1961 and then attended Itasca Community College. Gary moved from the Iron Range to Minneapolis to...

HANS SMITH (55) Hans was born April 2, 1964 to Paul and Patricia Smith in Medford, Oregon. He died due to an accident while removing a fallen tree from a roof near Eagles Nest Lake during the storm of September 17th. Hans and his brother Erik grew up in Ely with their youth spent canoeing, x-c skiing the lakes and backpacking various mountains out West. When seventeen Hans worked for several years as a cowboy on ranches in Montana and Nebraska. He worked at various fire jobs on the Superior...

Caroline Marie Anderson “Big Ma”, 88, Ely, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 3, 2019, at the Boundary Waters Care Center surrounded by her loving family.   Caroline was born on March 12, 1931, in Ely, Minnesota to Joseph and Ethel Klobuchar. She later graduated from Virginia High School in 1949.   She married William Andrew Anderson of Ely on November 19, 1949, in Ely, Minnesota.   Caroline was a stay at home mother until the youngest of their 11 children...

Ronald Lee Ferdig went to the lord peacefully at home with his family by his side, October 11th, 2019 after a 5-year battle with cancer. Ron was born January 3rd, 1949 in Bemidji MN to Leo & Blanche Ferdig. He graduated from Tower MN in 1968 and went on to work for Reserve Mining, LTV Steel, and retiring from Inland Steel.  He loved Ice-fishing, Wood-working, driving his Monte Carlo ‘SS’, cracking jokes, and listening to old country music.  Ron is survived by...

Ely – Kenneth Townsend Sanders, 80, passed away Monday, September 23, 2019 at the Boundary Waters Care Center. Ken is survived by his three sons, Michael (and Becky) Sanders, Mark Sanders, and Matt (and Beth) Sanders; twelve grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and dear friends of his later years in the Ely area.  He was preceded in death by his parents. Born  in Greer, South Carolina and raised in Livonia, Michigan, the son of Hubert and Irene Sanders, Ken was a...

Walter August Fendt, Jr., 87, of rural Ely passed away with family by his side on Sunday Sept. 21, 2019. Wally was born on Dec. 24, 1931 in Chicago, IL to Walter and Mildred Fendt. Wally is survived by his wife Carolyn of 41 years and children, Tina (Billy) Dehmlow, Tom Smith, Jeff (Trish) Fendt and Monica Arika; grandchildren: Lucas, Leia, Duke, Scott, Nathan, Victor, Kaleb, Benjamin, Jason, Eric, Andrew and Kaitlyn and ten great-grandchildren: Emma, Hannah, Damien, Kayla, Mya, Khloe,...