Christopher Paul Yarger, age 48, of Ely, MN passed away on Sunday, March 19, 2017 at the St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, MN as a result of a snowmobile accident.  Chris was born on September 23, 1968 in Virginia, MN the son of LeRoy and Janice (McDowell ) Yarger.

Chris lived his first two years in Orr, MN and Camp Vermilion, his next four years in Overland Park, KS.  He and his family moved to Grand Forks, ND where he graduated from Red River High School in 1987.  Following high school, Chris attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and graduated in 1991 with a German teaching degree.  He went back to school at Bemidji State College where he obtained a second teaching degree in Industrial Technology.  In the last two years, Chris was working on obtaining his Master’s Degree at NDSU.  He worked summers during college at Camp Vermilion in Cook, MN where he was a counselor and canoe guide.  Chris held teaching positions in Moose Lake, Bemidji, Port Orchard, WA, Sandstone, West Fargo, ND, and most recently in Ely and Babbitt, MN.  He loved to ride motorcycle and snowmobile, was an excellent water-skier, kayaker and canoeist.  Chris had a knack for being able to repair almost anything.  He was a people person who had a great sense of humor.  He could entertain his family and friends for hours.  Chris loved to canoe in the Boundary Waters and roar around Voyagers National Park in his speed boat.  He loved his family and friends and they loved him.  There were countless hours of work and play at the family cabin on Lake Kabekona.  Chris will be missed by all who knew him.

The family he leaves behind are his parents; Lee and Jan Yarger of Laporte, MN, brother; Jon Yarger of St. Louis Park, MN, two nieces; Jessica at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, and Emma, St. Louis Park, MN and several aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and numerous friends.

Visitation for Chris will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, March 24, 2017 with a prayer service held at 7:30 p.m. at the Northern Peace Funeral Home, 114 Tianna Drive, Walker, MN.  Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 25, at Hope Lutheran Church in Walker, MN and a visitation will also be held one hour prior to the service at the church.  Rev. Matthew McWaters will officiate.  Pallbearers for Chris will be Eric “Woody” Froland, Nate Sheggeby, Dennis Schultz, Mark Tokheim, Scott Richardson, and Tim Mason.  Inurnment will be held at the Lakeport Cemetery, Laporte, MN at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Hope Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 506, Walker, MN 56484, Kabekona Lake Foundation, P.O. Box 8, Laporte, MN 56461-0008, and Camp Vermilion, VLM, 2555 Vermilion Camp Road, Cook, MN 55723.

Chris’ care has been entrusted to Northern Peace Funeral Home of Walker.  Online condolences for the family may be left at www.northernpeace.com.

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