Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Garrett J. 'Gerry' Alessandroni

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. - Garrett J. "Gerry" Alessandroni, 71, Columbia Heights, Minn., formerly of Ironwood, Mich., passed away on May 14, 2018, with his son, Damien, and his brother, Domenic, by his side.

Gerry was born on March 27, 1947, in Ironwood, to the late Alfred and Barbara (Patritto) Alexandroni. He was a 1965 graduate of Luther L. Wright High School. He served his country honorably as a member of the U.S. Navy, serving in Vietnam. After his honorable discharge, he served in the Army National Guard.

He also attended Gogebic Community College, where he received his Associate Degree in applied business. He was a former employee of White Pine Copper Company until his retirement. Gerry was an easy-going guy. He enjoyed hunting with his cousin and best friend, Frankie Barbera, going to the casino and playing cribbage. He was a proud Italian and loved Italian food, especially his sister, Dianne's, filled pizza.

Garrett became a volunteer with the St. Paul Red Cross Disaster Services in 1996. He participated in many major Red Cross deployments, including the 1997 Red River floods, deployment to New York City after 9/11 and hurricane response to Florida in 2004. His hurricane response resulted in recognition from Twin Cities TV Channel 11, "11 Who Care," awards program. Garrett was an extremely dedicated volunteer who responded to many local fire, flood and tornado events in the St. Paul and Minneapolis Red Cross service area until 2012.

He will be sadly missed by his children, Angela Kaufman, of Fifield, Wis., Damian Alexandroni, of Vancouver, Wash., Timothy Alexandroni, of Ironwood; nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren; siblings, Fred (Corrine) Alexandroni, of Ironwood, Domenic (Peggy) Alexandroni, of Neenah, Wis., Ramon (Renee) Alexandroni, of Escanaba, Mich., Dianne Alexandroni, of Ironwood, Deborah Alexandroni, of Hurley; Wis .; Annette (James) Francis, of Hurley, as well as many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

There will be a celebration of life for Gerry on Saturday, June 9, from 10 to 11 a.m. at McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home, 305 N. Lowell St. in Ironwood. There will be a brief prayer service at 11 a.m., followed by military honors.

Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery of Ironwood.

For more information and to express condolences, please visit mckevittpatrickfuneralhome.com.

The family would like to say thank you to Gerry's close friends: Ed and Liz McCarthy and Bill and Morli McNally.