Donald Helmer Flyckt

Donald Helmer Flyckt died on Sunday June 3rd.  Don was born in Duluth MN on September 25, 1934 and was the son of Helmer and Fern Minnie Flyckt.  He went to Denfield High School where he was the class president and a State Champion swimmer in the 200 yd freestyle.  After high school he went to Carlton College, left to join the Marines and ultimately graduated from the U of M.  He swam for the Marines and the University. 

He married Margaret Rude of Duluth and had two daughters Lady (Kramer) and Rebecca (McIntosh) He was a very good father to his daughters and then to his grandkids.  Don could hardly wait for his grandkids to be born!  He gave them all a great amount of freedom, mixed with responsibility, humor and a bit of wisdom from an old Marine.  Occasionally there may have been too much freedom: knives, matches, hatchets, boats and canoes were all readily available, but it was pretty fun being around Grandpa.   

Don worked for IBM in Fargo ND and Minneapolis.  After retiring from IBM he worked for several start ups and his most recent job was a board member and Vice President of Leech Lake TV Corporation in Walker.  He enjoyed working, staying up to date with new technologies and mostly, he was interested in the people he worked with.

 Swimming, canoeing and being at Leech Lake were lifelong loves and they sustained him.  He canoed the Boundary Waters as a kid and took canoe trips with his family until his late 70’s.  Being at the lake gave him the opportunity to be outside chopping wood, burning things, (including un-burnables!), taking the boat out, BSing with the neighbors and walking in the woods.  He was known to hunt deer while smoking a cigar.  Killing a deer would have ruined a perfectly good walk in the fall.  

 Don leaves behind Roseanne Budahl, his longtime companion.  He met her while swimming and included her in his life at Leach Lake and with his grandkids.  She had no choice really, but she was a good sport about it.  He is also survived by Lady, her sons, Spike, Dodge and Cole Kramer.  Rebecca died in 2010, that took some of the wind out of his sails but is survived by her son Colt McIntosh and daughter Lady McIntosh Jones.  Others include, his sister Joan “Lady” Larson, her two sons Jerry and Don, Ron and Carolyn Rude, their son Peter, daughter Sunny and Roseanne’s daughter Stacey Budahl.  Don was truly a good man to his extended family and they often sought him out for a good talk or to reason something out.   His death was sudden and shocking.  He should be and will be remembered as the good man he was.

There will be a private family memorial at Leach Lake in the future as that is where he loved to be most of all.

Donald’s 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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