Arleigh Ingle Birk

Funeral service for Arleigh Ingle Birk, 99, of Hoyt Lakes, will be 11am Monday, March 2, 2020 at Faith Lutheran Church in Hoyt Lakes with Pastor Charles Barnes officiating.  Visitation will be Sunday from 2-4pm at Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home in Aurora.  Visitation will also continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday.   Military honors will be accorded by the Aurora/Hoyt Lakes Color Guard.  Inurnment will take place in the Hoyt Lakes Memorial Cemetery at a later date.

Arleigh died Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at Essentia Health – Northern Pines in Aurora, Minnesota.

Arleigh was born February 27, 1920 in Grafton, North Dakota to Leonard and Lisa (Kydland) Birk.  At an early age he was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corp Camps and in 1939 joined the US Navy.  He served in Pearl Harbor on the USS Honolulu.  During the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the ship was heavily damaged and Arleigh was then transferred to the USS Denver.  He went on to serve in the Philippines, Guadalcanal, Japan and Saipan. 

On June 4, 1947 he married Marion Hove in Grafton. He farmed in North Dakota, later moved to Makinen and finally moved to Hoyt Lakes in 1957.  He began working for Erie Mining Company and retired from there in 1982 as a welder. 

In 1968 he purchased the Forest Lane Resort on Lake Vermilion which they owned and operated until 1975.  The couple moved to Palo and returned to Hoyt Lakes in 1988.

Arleigh was an active member of Faith Lutheran Church, the Timothy Robinson VFW Post and the Aurora American Legion Post 241.  He was also a member of the Disabled American Veterans and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association where he had served as President.

Survivors include his children: Lois (Robert) Dunne of Pennock, MN, Caryl (Dan) Kaler of Burnsville, Bruce (Sandra) Birk of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Brian (Kathie) Birk of Tower and Kathryn (Bruce) Feroe of Hoyt Lakes; grandchildren: Sara (Andrew) George, Matthew Kaler, Lisa (Lee Sherwin) Birk, Phillip (Megan) Birk, Rebecca (Jeremy) Nissila, Carly (Ross) Malo, Heidi (Matt Comnick) Feroe and Erica Birk; great grandchildren: Frederick George, Logan Nissila, Olive Fox and Norah Comnick;  siblings: Keith Birk, Effie Randall and Martha Brown; numerous nieces and nephews also survive.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Leonard and Lisa; wife, Marion; siblings: Iva Bashour, Phillip Birk and Mae Anderson.