- Date Of Birth: May 31, 1922
- Date Of Death: April 14, 2014
- State: Minnesota
Herbert F. Pfremmer passed peacefully on April 14, 2014. Herb was born and grew up in Minneapolis where he graduated from Roosevelt High School and enrolled in the University of Minnesota pursuing a medical career. When Pearl Harbor was attacked he decided he would rather be a hero than a doctor, enlisted as a naval aviator, and received training in Iowa City, Minneapolis, and Corpus Christi Texas where he chose to enter the Marine corps which allowed him to choose the plane he wished to fly. He received advanced training in torpedo bombers at Jacksonville, Florida and was given orders to report to San Diego but stopped in route to marry Jean Hubbard, his wife of over 66 years. Attached to a Marine fighter Squadron 213 he was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier Essex, where he participated in the first strikes at Tokyo. Latter transferred to the USS Bennington he supported the landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa where he survived being shot down twice. He was awarded 7 air medals and 2 distinguished flying crosses. Upon release from active duty he joined the firm of VanDusen Aircraft Supplies where he covered three and a half states, by air, as a sales representative selling aircraft parts and supplies. In 1951, Herb relocated his wife and three daughters to Virginia while working with business partner, Fran Mitchell, to take over the Shell Oil distributorship. That partnership later obtained the Goodyear tire distributorship (now known as Taconite Tire Company) where he was active until selling his interest in both companies in 1969. Herb built the North Country Traders business at the junction of HW 53 and 169, North of Virginia. A member of the board of directors that built Lookout Mountain Ski Area, he later purchased the area at an auction sale after the business could not meet Federal requirements. After establishing the Four Season Supper Club with partner Archie Lundeen he sold his interest to Lundeen. In 1975 he joined the firm of ABI Contracting where his responsibilities were with customer, public relation and safety. In 1982 he left ABI to build the Unusual Place in Eveleth, a retail business, until he retired in 1990. A member of the Mayo committee for the Taconite amendment he traveled throughout the state, speaking to different organizations and groups on 53 occasions, encouraging support of the amendment. Involvement in community activities included being president of the Jr. Chamber, president or the Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Virginia Housing Authority, heading two Red Cross Fund drives, the first united fund drives in Virginia and served as an Exalted Ruler in the Virginia Elks Club. A member of the United Methodist Church he acted as a lay speaker in protestant churches for 50 years, twice serving as interim pastor at the Chisholm Methodist Church.
Herb is survived by: daughters: Bobbi (Ron) Westerbur, Carol (Kurt) Sundquist Nancy Swanson; Jerry (Paulette) Pfremmer; ten grandchildren; twenty-six great grandchildren; sisters: Beulah Goodlund and Barbara (John) Hoppensted; extended family and friends.
He was preceded in death by: his parents: Marion and Herbert Pfremmer; wife: Jean; sister: Dorothy Fifield; and son-in-law John Swanson.
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