Irene Julia Kosiak Perpich M.D.

Irene Julia Kosiak Perpich M.D.

Irene Julia Kosiak Perpich M.D., age 92, died on July 3, 2024, at home in Shoreview, Minn.

Born in Chisholm, Minn., on October 3, 1931, to parents John and Julia Billo Kosiak, she attended Chisholm schools, graduating as Valedictorian class of 1949. Upon entering Hibbing, MN Junior College, she was one of the first recipients of a Marshall H. and Nellie Alworth Memorial Scholarship, Duluth, Minn.

She was always greatly appreciative of the financial support she received throughout college and the University of MN from which she received her doctorate in 1956-one of 6 women in a class of 115.

Following an internship in San Francisco, she returned to complete a residency in Anesthesiology at the University of MN.

In 1960, she married college classmate Dr. Tony Perpich and moved to Virginia, Minn., where she worked as the first female physician at the Municipal Hospital. After moving to Minneapolis in 1975, she joined the UMN Anesthesiology Dept. In 2021 she was honored for being the Department's first female faculty member. She retired in 1998 after 15 years at Minneapolis Veterans Hospital.

She is survived by daughter Julia Perpich, M.D. (Greg Damberg, M.D.); grandchildren, Niklas, M.D., Juliana, Kaarl; and sister, Eva Robinson.

She was predeceased by husband of 57 years, Dr. Tony Perpich; brothers, Dr. John Kosiak, Dr. William Kosiak, Dr. Michael Kosiak; and sister, Mary Ann Rajacich.

Private family services.