Alexander “Alex” F. Kossick Jr.

Alexander “Alex” F. Kossick, Jr., 77, Audubon, MN, passed away Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Sanford Health Palliative Care, Fargo, ND after a long battle with cancer. Alex was born March 5, 1935, in Fargo, ND, to Alexander and LaVere Farnham Kossick. He grew up in Moorhead, MN, graduating from Moorhead Senior High School in 1953. After attending college for a short time during which he was in the Naval Reserve, he signed up for active duty in the US Navy in 1955 and served abroad the USS Curtiss as a radio technician. His ship participated in several nuclear tests in the Pacific: Operation Wigwam in 1955 an underwater nuclear test 500 miles SW of San Diego and Operation Redwing in 1956 tests conducted on the Enewetak and Bikini Atolls in the Marshall Islands. He was honorably discharged from the US Navy and Reserve in March, 1961. He also served three years in the North Dakota Air National Guard and the US Air Force Reserve until his honorable discharge in April, 1966.

In 1959 he married Carole Mehl in Moorhead, MN, and they had a daughter, Stephanie. He worked as a salesman, truck driver and for his father as Manager of Kossick’s Off-Sale in Moorhead for several years before going to work for S.F. Douglas Truck Line in 1972 which later became Central Distribution. He retired in 1990 when the Moorhead terminal closed and was thankful for his 20-year Teamster’s pension at that point.

In 1982 he married Connie Davis in Lake Park, MN, acquiring two more daughters, Kimberly and Steffanie. They have made their home on Big Cormorant Lake since that time.

He was an avid hunter and fisherman in his early years; was a CB enthusiast; a big fan of Nascar; and always enjoyed living at the lakes, having lived on Pelican, Bijou and Big Cormorant twice. He was a lifetime member of the Moorhead VFW and a proud member of the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association and the NRA.

Surviving Alex are his wife, Connie; daughter, Stephanie Curt Hartog, Panama City, FL; step-daughters, Kimberly Holloway-Somerville, Lake Park, MN and Steffanie Davis, Crowley, TX; six grandchildren, William Darci Hartog, Moorhead, MN, Laura David Warner, Cleveland Heights, OH, Carole Ryan Funderburk Hartog, Pensacola, FL, Laicy Somerville, Moorhead, MN; Molley and Aubrey Somerville, Lake Park, MN; and four great-grandchildren, Landen and Elena Hartog, Aamariah and Caiden Warner; his mother, LaVere Kossick, Moorhead, MN; brothers, Rodney Sue, Modesto, CA and Michael Dawn, Hunter, ND; sisters, Sharon Gene Schroeder, Lake Park, MN and Rochelle, Moorhead, MN; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Preceding him in death were his first wife, Carole; his father, Alexander F. Kossick, Sr.; and his grandson, Shelby E. Somerville.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.