Donald Warm

Don Warm, 85, of Silver Bay passed away unexpectedly in the late morning hours of October 19, 2017 at Lake View Memorial Hospital in Two Harbors.

Donald (Don) Warm was born on October 4th, 1932 in North Germany Township, located in Wadena County in west central Minnesota.  He was the firstborn offspring and only son of Lawrence and Selena (Kempton) Warm.  Don was followed in the family by sisters Elsie (Rueben Stierna) and Lorraine (James Finck)—since deceased—as well as youngest sibling Debbie (Darrel Anderson) who currently resides in Monticello, Minnesota.

Don grew up on a wooded acreage near Nimrod, Minnesota and attended school in nearby Sebeka, Minnesota, earning a high School diploma in the spring of 1952.  He thereupon enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served a four-year stint ending in 1956.  Don worked in the Naval Air Force branch of the Navy, performing airplane maintenance while servicing all types of aircraft.  This job carried him to virtually every state in the union on various occasions.  Don’s tenure in the Navy also included a year-long cruise to and in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the U.S.S. Ticonderoga, where the crew visited many prominent port cities in both Europe and the Middle East.

Upon his honorable discharge from the United States Navy in 1956, Don moved to Silver Bay, Minnesota, where he immediately started work for Reserve Mining Company--a taconite processing plant--in maintenance.  Don continued his employment with Reserve Mining until January 2nd, 1992, when he voluntarily retired.  For the next sixteen years—from 1995 through 2010—Don and wife Audriene escaped northern Minnesota’s harsh winters by temporarily relocating to Mission, Texas, times they thoroughly enjoyed with a host of new friends in the warmth of southern Texas.

Don met Audriene Pflugradt, originally from Parker’s Prairie, Minnesota, during his first year in Silver Bay.  Following a brief courtship, the pair married in Parker’s Prairie on August 18th, 1957.  They were subsequently blessed with two offspring, daughter Carla Jean (Fred) Blahnik of rural Stewartville, Minnesota and five years later by son Curtis Donald (Doreen) of Blaine, Minnesota.  Don was a proud grandfather to five grandchildren—all girls—namely Samantha, Lindsay, and Raven Blahnik, Carly and Nicole Warm.  Don was a fantastic grandfather and absolutely doted on his granddaughters.  Later, he was blessed with three step-grandchildren, Alisha, Michael (Natasha), and Brandon Lockwood.

During his years living in Silver Bay, Don was an active member of Faith Lutheran Church and worshipped there regularly.

Don Warm was a fervent hunter and fisherman throughout his life, and he also found time in his busy schedule for trapping, camping, and just generally “being out in the woods”.  Don was likewise a renowned woodworker and metal worker, and to say he was a mechanical genius would be a gross understatement.  In his later years—when he was no longer wintering in southern Texas—Don enjoyed feeding birds in his front yard all year long, and he especially relished feeding deer in his backyard over the winter months.

Visitation will be from 10 AM until the 11 AM service on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at Faith Lutheran Church in Silver Bay.  Burial will follow at Sawtooth Mountain Cemetery.