Dennis A. Bertness
1937 ~ 2022

Captain Dennis A. Bertness, age 85, passed away at home with his wife by his side holding her hand. Denny was hired by Northwest Airlines on May, 06, 1968.
Dennis graduated from Walker High School, Walker, MN. He spent 11 years in the Air Force (SAC) as a pilot flying air refuelers. He flew for Northwest Airlines for 29 years, retiring as a 747 Captain.
Dennis had a major stroke in July 2019. Since then, he had been cared for 24-7 by his wife of 62 years. In the last months he developed cancer. We will all miss his laugh, many jokes, and stories.
Preceded in death by his parents Marvin and Winifred; twin sister, Deanna Murray; brother, Leigh Bertness; step-mother, Carol Bertness. Survived by wife, Margaret (Margo); daughter, Carrie (Bryan) Hopson; son, Brian (Jody); grandson, Nick Bertness; granddaughter, Tori (Cory) Soller; grandson, Aaron Kapke; great-grandchilden, Ava and Gage Bertness, Marshall, Clair, and Hannah Soller; sisters-in-law, Mary Agnes Miksch and Sylvia Trahan; nephews and nieces.
Private Interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial preferred to Mary Mother of the Church, Burnsville, MN.
(- Bertness family)
Stephen A. Luckey
1940 ~ 2022

Steve was born on March 8, 1940, in Emmaus, PA, son of “Chick” and Mabel Luckey. Steve loved the woods and streams of the Pennsylvania Poconos where his father was a Forest and Wildlife ranger. At a very young age he accompanied his dad on ranger duties, once holding poachers at gunpoint while his dad disarmed the bad guys. Steve’s hunting experience in the Pocono mountains not only made Steve an expert marksman, but it also gave him survival skills that probably saved his life when scouting behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Very unique duty for a Marine A-4 Skyhawk pilot (carrier qualified) and a FAC (Forward Air Controller) in the U-10 Helio Courier.

Unique indeed. That word describes Steve the best. Many Northwest pilots started, as did Steve, on the B-727 and retired on the B747-400. However, Steve was the one and only NWA pilot that used his innate skills acquired in his formative years and his training as a Marine to make the aviation industry a safer and more secure environment.
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John Richard Erlandson
1930 ~ 2022

Captain John Richard "Dick" Erlandson, age 92, died on September 05, 2022. Dick was born February 4th, 1930, in Gary, Indiana, the second of five children. He was taught by his parents - Arnold and Helen Erlandson to put family first; that included fulfilling his chores at his father’s dairy in Miller, Indiana.
While working in the dairy it is reputed that Dick drank the cream from the top of the milk bottles. After his fulfilling chores, Dick would head east to Miller Beach, near the famed Indiana Dunes on the south shore of Lake Michigan and there tear up the beach in his brother Charlie's custom dune buggy.
As early as high school years Dick worked in the steel mills in Gary, Indiana. After high school he hitchhiked to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota for his first two years of college. Thereafter he transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder until graduating with a degree in Pharmacy.
Read more: John Richard Erlandson