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As received from the Erickson Crowley Peterson Funeral Home:
Bernard R. “Bernie” Koskiniemi, 87, a resident of Laurium passed away peacefully, on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at the Omega House surrounded by his family.
He was born on December 23, 1934 in Laurium, a son of the late Benjamin & Josephine (Lenich) Koskiniemi.
Bernie graduated from Calumet High School with the class of 1952. Most notably, Bernie worked at Quincy and White Pine mines as an Electrician. He became a Master Electrician and operated Koskiniemi Electric with his sons from 1974 until his retirement in 2000.
On February 11, 1956, he was united in marriage to the former Barbara Butkovich at St. Ignatius Church in Houghton, and she preceded him in death on February 17, 2002.
He was a member of the Sacred Heart Church in Calumet and was proud to have served on the committee to help rebuild the church after it was destroyed by fire in 1983.
Bernie loved having all his children & families together to celebrate holidays, graduations, baptisms, 1st communions, & birthdays. He loved to play Sunday afternoon hockey rentals with his family, and he enjoyed his camp at Rice Lake during the summers. He also never missed any event that his children, grandchildren, great-grandchilden participated in, to show his love & support. He enjoyed watching black & white movies, westerns, & professional sports on TV. In Bernie’s later years, many will remember him for his walks around Laurium with his past dog-Barnabas and his current dog-Belle.
Proceding him in death were his parents; his Wife, Barbara; Granddaughter, Barbara; Father & Mother-in-law, Peter and Lucille Butkovich: In-laws, Donna & Doug Hiltunen and David & Kathy Butkovich.
He is survived by his twelve children and their families:
8 Sons: Gary (Trudie) Koskiniemi & their children: Angela, Tiffany (Sean) & Andrew.
Dave (Heather) Koskiniemi & their children: Noah (Katie), Sarah, Hannah (Justin) & Abigail (Kevin).
Don Koskiniemi & his children: Mandy (Jason), Spencer, & Selina.
Jim (Gail) Koskiniemi & their children: Stefanie (Mike) & Nick (Paige).
Bernie (Trish) Koskiniemi & their children: Suzette (Brandon), Meagen (Cameron) & David (Justyna).
Jon (Brian) Koskiniemi. Danny (Jill) Koskiniemi.
Chris Koskiniemi & his children: Catie (Tyler), Cory (Laura), Kristen, Caroline, Kevin, Richard, and Emma.
4 Daughters: Cathy (Mike) Michaels & their daughters: Nikki (Matt) & Danielle.
Sue (Steve) Hainault & their children: Benji (Heather), Philip (Andrea), Casey (Kim) & Aaron (Lexi).
Debbie (Jim) Berryman & their children: Jacob & Jessica (Rosario).
Lori (Brad) Fortin & their children: Bernie, Carli, and Lucille.
25 great-grandchildren: Hunter, Sawyer, Olivia, Sebastian, Angel, Chloe, Jovie, Naevia, Miira, Reece, Paisley, Finnley, Emery, Charlie, Emily, Aurora, Charlotte, Eleanor, Rudy, Jude, Anschel, Shia, Layton, Luci, & Ivy.
3 brothers: Ben (Joan) Koskiniemi, Robert (Shirley) Koskiniemi, and Gary (Donna) Koskiniemi. And Brother-in-law: Paul (Lois) Butkovich.
Numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He will be missed by his Dog-Belle.
A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, June 10, 2022 at 11 AM at the Sacred Heart Church in Calumet with Fr. Gracious Pulimoottil to officiate.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 9, 2022 from 4-8 PM in the Erickson Crowley Peterson Funeral Home in Calumet. A prayer service will be held at 7:30 PM on Thursday at the funeral home.
Burial will be in the Lake View Cemetery.
Online condolences can be left for the family at ericksoncrowleypeterson.com
