John Lundberg

John Paul Lundberg, age 71, of Pequot Lakes, MN, passed away on November 19, 2009, at Whispering Pines Good Samaritan home in Pine River.


John was born on November 25, 1937 in Ishpeming, MI, to Homer R. and Dorothy Tucker Lundberg. He grew up in Chisholm, MN, and graduated from Chisholm High School in 1955. He served in the United States Navy on the destroyer escort USS Peterson from 1955 through 1958. On June 27, 1959, John married Audrey Kangas in Chisholm. He attended Hibbing Junior College and was employed as an engineer at Beloit Corporation in Ashland, WI, until 1971 when he started designing snowmobiles at Scorpion Inc. in Crosby, MN. He also worked at Arctic Cat for a short time before setting up his own agency, Venture Engineering, through which he became an independent design contractor and worked for Polaris Industries in Roseau until his retirement. During his professional life, he was known as an innovator and was instrumental in many advances in both the snowmobile and logging industries.


John enjoyed motorsports and was an avid photographer, loved gadgets and was an accomplished sculptor and model maker. He remembered his trips to England and Scotland fondly and enjoyed researching his family's genealogy.


John is survived by his wife, Audrey, and their children, Ellen (Don) Backstrom, of Baxter, Donna Nelson, St Paul, John Jr. (Cindy) , of Breezy Point, James (Rebekah), of St Cloud; grandchildren, Sarah Powers, Thomas Weizenegger, Nicholas Backstrom; Jennifer and Heather Mead, Devin Nelson; great grandson Carter Boxell; sisters, Jean (Russell) Palmquist, Victoria Gornick; brother, Richard Lundberg, all of Chisholm, MN.

Memorial service will be held at 2 PM Friday, November 27th at the Kline Funeral Home in Pequot Lakes with Pastor Sheila Hunter officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.