Michael E.  Alm died Wednesday, December 11 at home.  A Memorial Mass will be held Friday, December 20 at 11:00 am at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Miesville, with a visitation from 9 - 11 am.  Luncheon will immediately follow Mass at St. Joseph in the Parish Hall.

Michael was the youngest son of Ernest and Clara (Laska) Alm.  He was born on August 12, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He lived on a farm in Finlayson, Minnesota, graduating from Finlayson High.  His favorite sport in high school was basketball.  Upon graduation, Mike joined the 49’ers Heavy Equipment Union and married his high school sweetheart.  Mike continued in Heavy Equipment finding himself working in several parts of the state, and also found himself eating in a different place each time.  After 12 years of marriage, he found himself at a local restaurant in Apple Valley where he met Shirley.  Several months later he pursued her. 

Years later, in 1987 Shirley and Mike were married and blessed in their Catholic Faith.  Shirley Linehan Gagnon also had four children:  Vicki Wagner, Michelle Gagnon, Thomas Gagnon and Gary Gagnon (deceased).  After living in Bloomington, they moved to Hastings in 1995.

Mike entered into a new profession of supplying natural stone to retailers in a five state area.  His company was called Mac Natural Stone, ending up with a nickname of “Rocky”.  After retirement from the business world, Mike decided to try his hand at Blacksmithing.  He made crosses for several people, until his hand could no longer hold a hammer.  He so enjoyed the company of his many friends in Blacksmithing and attended distant Blacksmith conventions.  He was always interested in meeting new people.  One of Mike’s other loves, was his Wyoming hunting trips with a great bunch of guys.  Their experiences are endless.  The fun for Shirley was helping to prepare the venison.  His greatest love was his Church, his wife of 32 years and their children, and 11 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Children:  Nathan (Charyl) Alm, Heather (Jon) Maack, Jenna (Tab) Alm, Lukas Alm (deceased), Vicki Wagner, Michelle Gagnon, Thomas (Lynn) Gagnon, and Gary Gagnon (deceased).

Grandchildren: Katlynn, Gabrielle, Nicole (Dane), Anthony, Kyle, Jonah, Britany (Theran), Vanessa, Jedidiah, Daunite, and Chelsie.

Great grandchildren:  Dax, Jace, Brayden, Carson, Gibson and Rosalyn.  He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Private internment will be at St. Joseph Parish Cemetery at a later date.