2022. Vern was born on August 21, 1931 in Lake Park, Minnesota to Martin and Bessie (Anderson)
Mikkelson. He grew up on the family farm, was the first boy in his family of 8 siblings, and attended a rural one room grade school. He graduated from Lake Park High School and attended the school for Northern Pacific Rail Road station agents. In 1951 he began his military career and entered into the United States Air Force, served his country for twenty five years with a multitude of honors and awards, and traveled all over world. In 1954 he was united in marriage to Marcia Rae (Stormy) Young of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Upon retirement from the USAF as a Senior Master Sargent, he joined the company of WR Grace in the Cryovac Division in low Park, TX. He retired from Cryovac after nineteen plus years working with the plant's engineering department in a number of electronic and electrical departments. During that time he served as the radiation plant safety officer and served as a member of the world wide radiation safety group of WR Grace.
During his retirement, Vern enjoyed hunting, fishing, softball, bowling, Amateur radio, golf, and also found the time to serve in various jobs within his church. He coached two girls fast pitch teams to a state championship while in Hawaii, coached the Red Baron slow pitch softball team, and was a sanctioned umpire. He served as the chairman for the board of directors for the Trinity Lutheran Church Day School, a member of the Wichita Falls Senior Men's Golf Association at Weeks Park, a member of the Texoma Senior Men's golf tour, a team member for the North Texas Emmaus Group, and was a past president and member of the Lutheran Brotherhood branch 8224 for a number of years. In 2003 he joined the The First United Methodist Church in low Park, where he served with the Board of Trustees for a number of years, and could be found tinkering on something, with a coffee cup in hand at all times.
He was very active in Ham radio since the first licensed (K5ZBD) in 1959 and has many log books of contacts with other Ham operators all of the world. The longest distance being a contact with the Antarctica radio station while serving in the USAF at Point Barrow Alaska. If you knew him, you understood his love of flying. He enjoyed flying light aircraft before and while in the military and it carried over into his retirement.
His family was his pride and joy, after his love for coffee. You could catch him at McDonalds having a "meeting of the minds" with all of his friends, or holding onto a coffee mug while teaching you why something worked the way it did. There was nothing that Vern couldn't fix, or "make better" with his tinkering skills. Vern left everything better than he found it, and made a lasting impression on the communities he lived in.
Vern is survived by his wife Marcia Mikkelson, two daughters; Gala Mikkelson and Dana Mikkelson Davis, 3 grandchildren; Mindy Mikkelson Sullivan (husband Clyde Sullivan), Zach Davis (husband Matt Ebner), and Nathan Davis (wife Morgan Davis); two great granddaughters McKyla Sullivan and Emsley Sullivan; two brothers Ernie Mikkelson of Lake Park, MN and Richard (Ricky)
Mikkelson of Prince George BC; and many nieces and nephews.
The family will have a private memorial at a later date.
The family wishes to extend a heart filled thanks to the Visiting Angels (Roxann and Lori) as well as Hospice of Wichita Falls for their love and care of Vern. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Wichita Falls (in his honor) or FUMCIP located at 201 E Bank, low Park, Tx.
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