Gene Edward Madson,
83, died on November 16, 2010, in Duluth, MN.
Gene was born on November 25, 1926, in Crookston, MN. The third of four children of Manley and Borghild (Strand) Madson, he lived a life of adventure as a child in Crookston.
Gene enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June 1944. During the war, he patrolled the Pacific on several ships, including two destroyers.
On April 18, 1947, he married Ethel Skodje in Crookston, and they lived in Minneapolis; Mound, MN; Montara, CA; and Duluth, MN, before moving to Grand Marais in 1977, where they lived until Ethel’s death in 2009.
Gene worked for many years as an insurance adjuster. After his move to Grand Marais, he served as a bartender at the Grand Portage Radisson and then worked at the Grand Marais municipal liquor store before finally retiring in 2000. He enjoyed his daily walks on County Road 7, greeting all the local dogs and cats (and occasional moose); went cross-country skiing until he was 80; and was an avid reader. He loved watching sports and was a longtime fan of the Vikings.
Gene is survived by his sister Dorothy Horn of Granby, MA; son Matthew and his wife Naomi Ruff, of Duluth; son Eric and his wife Paula, of Vista, CA; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Gene was preceded in death by his wife Ethel and sons Gregory Gene and Gary Lee, as well as by two brothers, Jack and Manley, Jr.
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