Ervin Kahtava

Funeral service for Ervin G. Kahtava, 85, lifelong Palo resident, will be at 11 am Saturday, October 18, 2014 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Palo with Pastors Brendan Johnston and Barb Hegfors officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in the Rauha Cemetery in Palo. Military honors accorded by the Aurora-Hoyt Lakes Color Guard. Arrangements are by the Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home in Aurora. Memorials may be made in Ervin’s memory to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church or the Mesabi Humane Society. Ervin G. Kahtava died Monday, October 13, 2014 at his home. Ervin was born on March 30, 1929 to Anselm and Sadie (Frants) Kahtava at the Biwabik Hospital in Biwabik, MN. Ervin attended St. Louis County School #84, graduating from Aurora Hoyt Lakes, Class of 1947. Following school, he was employed by the DM&IR railroad as a gandy dancer at Allen Junction and Ridge. In 1951, Ervin was drafted into the US Army, serving two years with the 209th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery. Upon his honorable discharge, Ervin worked for several small contractors and then for Skubic Brothers. Ervin then went to work at Erie Mining Company, from where he retired after 32 years of service in 1990. On October 23, 1955 Ervin married Eileen Erickson in Palo. Following Eileen’s death in 1996, Ervin was united in marriage to Vivian (Holst) Williams on August 14, 1999. Ervin was a member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, the Quayle-Schuster-Truman-Muhich American Legion #241 of Aurora, and SOAR. Ervin enjoyed bowling, gardening, bird watching, playing and watching sports, and especially fishing and golfing. He will be remembered as a gentle, quiet man who was kind and always true to his word. Survivors include his wife: Vivian; two daughters: Mary (Mark) Sastry of Brooklyn Center, and Jane (Andrew) Peltier of Stillwater; two step-children: Beth (Sam) Wilkes of Palo, and Randolph M. Williams of Phoenix, AZ; four grandchildren: John and Caitlyn Peltier both of Stillwater, Christopher Wilkes of Fargo, ND, and Megan Wilkes of Seoul, South Korea; brother-in-law: Robert (Sandra) Eriokson of Plymouth, MN. He was preceded in death by his first wife: Eileen; his parents, Anselm and Sadie Kahtava; grandmother, Agatha Kahtava; and two brothers, Archie and Willard.