Herman John Bakke

Herman J. Bakke, age 75, of Milaca, formerly of Fridley, went suddenly and unexpectedly to be with his Lord and Savior, and dance with his one true love, on August 15th, 2014. Herman was a loyal and dedicated employee of the Toro Companies World Wide for almost 5 continuous decades. He worked his way up from the loading docks to spending more than a decade as the lead inspector for all of Toro’s product test and development at Toro’s World Wide Headquarters in Bloomington, MN. For almost a decade he was the senior active “employees union” member and advisor. He was a life long supporter of the DFL Party, scouting, the “Foresters” and in later years the Toro “Old Timers” Club. Herman was a man of few words, but the few said a lot! A man that you have so much to say about him; so you fall short. You can’t say enough about the man or his love, service, loyalty, and dedication to his wife, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family, friends and neighbors. Herman’s love of life transcended from his youth in Correl and Appleton, MN, to his “Golden Glove” teenage years in Minneapolis, to his ball park days in Bloomington and Fridley, through his retirement on the farm in Milaca. He was a compassionate, considerate, unconditional lover of his big family, the farm, his horses, his “dog” hunting, the outdoors, his church in Nashville and his new gospel singing friends at the Tibbets Brook Chapel. Herman was preceded in death by his loving wife of 39 years, Sharon (Harris); beloved father, Alfred Carl “Pappy” Bakke; mother, Ida Kostecky (Anderson); brothers, Alfred “Sonny” Bakke and Harlan “Butch” Bakke; brother-in-law, Bob “Uncle Bob” Graham; special uncle, Oscar “The Legend” Bakke and sadly by many, many loving, dear and respected in-laws, long time friends and neighbors. The giant hearted, loving, considerate, thoughtful, devoted, giving and caring man will be deeply missed, long mourned and never forgotten. The family patriarch is survived by his 4 children: thoughtful and loving daughters, Vanessa Nelson of Marion, ND and Denise Graser of Coon Rapids, MN; sons, James (Lori) Bakke of Antioch, TN and David Bakke of Minneapolis; 19 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; his three amazing sisters, Ada Graham of Las Vegas, NV, Karen (Ronnie) Anderson of Mora and Linda (Greg) vonRotchkirch of Las Vegas, NV; respected brother-in-law, Richard (Lauri) Harris of Fridley; long-time close personal friend, Eugene “Gene-O” Denbeste and also by many beloved nieces, nephews, in-laws, cousins, extended family, neighbors and new friends. The whole family invites you to a “Celebration of Life” to honor Herman on Saturday, August 23rd at 2 PM at Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home, 260 Central Ave. S., Milaca, MN 56353, with Rev. Lee Schumann of the Oxlip Ev. Free Church officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral on Saturday. A time of food and fellowship will follow at the Phoenix Hotel and Banquet Center, 210 E. Hwy 23, Milaca, MN. Private family interment will be held at a later date at the Bakke family section of the Appleton, MN Cemetery.