Thomas "Tom" Dahlberg

Thomas Raymond Dahlberg passed away unexpectedly on Monday, February 17, while visiting his daughter and family in St. Louis Park, Minn. He was born in Superior, Wis., on December 30, 1940, to a first-generation Slovak immigrant mother, Helen Sitek, and a second-generation Swedish immigrant father, Martin Dahlberg. He attended the Superior Cathedral High School. 

He then served in the US Army in Fort Carson, Colorado, from 1963-1965 during the Vietnam War. He was a Private First Class in the 5th Infantry Division (Mech), whose motto was “We will,” where he served as Personnel Management Specialist, In Processing Team. He received Letters of Commendation and Appreciation for his “assiduous and outstanding accomplishments.” In other words, he was highly organized, always had a neat appearance, and kept a tidy space. 

Upon returning from the service, Tom was introduced to his future wife, Kathleen Wagner, by his cousin Joe Sitek, who was dating Kathy’s sister Mary. Tom and Kathy went to “Sound of Music” on their first date on June 3, 1966, and were married at St. James Catholic Church on June 8, 1968. They drove to Colorado for their honeymoon.

 As a young boy, he shoveled coal into the ovens at Federal Bakery in Superior, where he then became a baker, making weddings cakes, pastries, and cookies (the latter continuing through this past Christmas!). After leaving the Army, he completed vocational training in accounting and savings, leading to a teller job in 1965 at St. Louis County Federal Savings and Loan Association—St. Looie—in Duluth, where he rose through many roles to Comptroller and Treasurer (his signature was on the bank checks!). In the mid-1990s, he worked for the Minnesota Department of Revenue and a small electric company before returning to banking at North Shore Bank of Commerce, and retiring in 2008. He joined the monthly St. Looie retiree lunch group and has since coordinated those monthly gatherings for years—by phone not email! 

 Tom was a member of Holy Rosary and St. John’s parishes, and was actively involved while his children attended both schools. He and Kathy raised three children in Duluth, where they were dedicated band, Little League, and soccer parents, and school volunteers.They took numerous family vacations, ranging from cabins in Brainerd to driving trips to Florida (via Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and St. Louis), the Canadian Rockies, and Kansas City. Later they traveled to Hawaii, Ireland, the Milwaukee Irish Fest, New York, and regular trips to Connecticut. They made countless trips to the Twin Cities to first support and visit their children in college, and later to do the same for all of their grandchildren, including many dance performances and graduations, as well as babysitting and sightseeing during Minneapolis visits of family from Connecticut. 

Tom belonged to a weekly bowling league for many years (just like his father). With his family, he did cross country skiing, tobogganing, picnicking, swimming, skating, and lots of grandparent and relative visits. He liked to shop and loved a bargain—and telling you how much he saved. For many years, Tom walked the Duluth Lakewalk once or twice a day where his social life thrived, bumping into old classmates, neighbors, his kids’ friends, and random tourists, among others. During many winters in retirement, he skated at the DECC. 

Tom was a selfless and compassionate caregiver to his family, parents, widowed aunts, and cousins—especially sharing his tireless love and care for his wife Kathy through years of progressive illness, and supporting her every single day during two years at the Benedictine Living Community, where people described him as a “good, good man,” “St. Thomas,” and a “BFD”! For the past two months, he continued this selfless, daily caretaking there again for his brother. (Eric and Jeannie have followed in his footsteps in their tireless care of Tom and Kathy the past three years.)

 Tom is survived by his children Renee Dahlberg and Jon Hoof, Steven Dahlberg and Doreen Cherniske, and Eric and Jeannie Dahlberg; their grandchildren Rachel, Abby, Annabelle, Eliza Bee, Gina and Kirk, Michael, and Laura; and great-grandchildren Brooke and Logan; his brothers Gerald and Marilyn Dahlberg, and Fr. Daniel Dahlberg; his sister-in-law Mary Claire and Joseph Sitek, and brother-in-law James and Victoria Wagner; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife Kathleen Dahlberg in August 2024, his brother-in-law Jodie Wagner, and his parents.

 The family is grateful to the Duluth Benedictine sisters of the St. Scholastica Monastery for their constant compassion, open hearts, and generous hospitality, and to the many friends and family who have expressed great kindnesses and love during this time of profound shock.

 Join us to celebrate Tom’s life, starting with Visitation from 4:00-7:00 pm (with a short prayer service at 6:30 pm) on Thur., Feb. 27, at Dougherty Funeral Home (600 E. 2nd St., Duluth); or Visitation from 9:00-10:30 am on Fri., Feb. 28, prior to a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 am, both at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at St. Scholastica Monastery (1200 Kenwood Ave., Duluth; also live streamed through Dougherty’s). A lunch will immediately follow in the Monastery’s Rockhurst Auditorium, followed by burial at 2:30 pm at Calvary Cemetery Duluth. Thank you to Fr. Seamus Walsh, Fr. Corbin Eddy, Sr. Lois Eckes, and Christine Sabol for officiating the services.

 Memorials can be made to St. Scholastica Monastery (1001 Kenwood Ave., Duluth, Minn., 55811) or the Damiano Center (206 W. 4th St., Duluth, Minn., 55806). Funeral arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home.

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