Arnold M. Luukkonen

Arnold M. Luukkonen, 92, of Cloquet and Round Lake near McGregor, died Friday, February 26, 2010 at 1:35 p.m. in Cloquet Community Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit with his son, Larry, by his side. He was born in 1917 in Cloquet to Olga and Emil Luukkonen. Arnold was a survivor of the 1918 fire and related many stories of others who escaped that terrible disaster. Arnold graduated from Cloquet High School in 1935. He was employed at Northwest Paper Company from 1935 until he went into the service in 1945. He married his childhood sweetheart, Vivian F. Debrowolski on October 12, 1940 in Morgan Park Presbyterian Church. On October 30, 1941, his son, Arnold Larry, was born in the Raiter Hospital in Cloquet. Arnold enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. He served at the Memphis, TN Naval Air Station. While there, he received advanced training in fire fighting techniques for ship board and on land. Much of this information and training proved helpful in later years. Arnold was discharged from the Navy in the spring of 1946. In 1947, Arnold applied for a position with the Cloquet Fire Department, thus beginning a 30 year career. In 1956, he was appointed Fire Chief succeeding the retiring Chief, Lester Clark. Arnold brought the Fire Department into a high state of efficiency by modernizing the methods and equipment available to the department based on the lessons he learned while in the Navy. He worked to increase training and was active in establishing a mutual aid network with the towns surrounding Cloquet. Arnold also provided training for new fire departments and helped organize these departments throughout the county. He never sent his men into a dangerous situation where he would not go himself. He led his men. Once, that insistence got him blown out of a building by an enormous backdraft, but he continued until the fire was out. In 1981, after he retired, Arnold and his wife moved to their country home on Round Lake near McGregor, MN. They lived there until returning to Cloquet in 2001 due to his wife's poor health. After Vivian died in 2002, Arnold moved back to Round Lake and lived with his son until 2008. Then due to health reasons he moved back to Evergreen Knoll and remained there until additional health problems required him to move to Villa Vista Nursing Home in Cromwell. Arnold and his family were life-long members of the Cloquet Presbyterian Church and frequently attended Round Lake Presbyterian Church while living near McGregor. He served in many different areas of church governance. Arnold was very musically inclined and played several instruments. While in the Navy, he played in a military band as a snare drummer, thus continuing a family tradition. Until very recently, Arnold was a member of the church choir. Throughout his life, he enjoyed singing at a number of area events and was also a member of a barbershop quartet. Arnold was active in the Minnesota State Fire Chief's Association and served in several leadership roles. He was a member of Cloquet American Legion Post 262. After his retirement from the Fire Department, he did carpentry and construction work. He thoroughly enjoyed woodworking and helping his son, Larry, on the tree farm. He was preceded in death by his wife, Vivian; his sister, Irene Sorey and his parents. Arnold is survived by his son, Arnold Larry of McGregor; a brother, Lloyd (Elizabeth) Luukkonen of Bloomington and a sister-in-law, Audrey Asproth of Cloquet. Memorial Services were held on Sunday, March 21, 2010 in Cloquet Presbyterian Church. A meatball luncheon, using Arnold's meatball recipe, followed in the Fellowship Hall of the church. Inurnment was in Hillcrest Cemetery, Cloquet. Memorials may be made to Cloquet Presbyterian Church or Carlton County Historical Society.