Frank William Perpich

Frank William Perpich, age 90 of Crosby passed away on May 22, 2022 at his home.  He was born April 2, 1932 in Crosby to Mike and Ivka (Butorac) Perpich, immigrants from Krivi Put and Krmpote, Croatia.  He attended Crosby-Ironton public schools and graduated from C-I High School in 1950.  He attended the Brainerd Junior College and received his Associate of Arts degree, with honors, in 1952.  He graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) with a Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, in 1954.  He received his Master of Arts degree in 1956 from UMD and Master of Science degree from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis in 1968.  He taught biology and general science in Argyle, MN for two years (1954-1956) and biology, chemistry, physics, and general science in Carlton, MN the following year.  The last 34 years of his teaching career were spent as a biology teacher in White Bear Lake, MN.  In 1977, he received the “Outstanding Biology Teacher” award from the National Association of Biology Teachers.  Some of his findings while doing research in the field of plant pathology on red oak trees were published in Phytopathology, the official journal of the American Phytopathology Society. 

Following his retirement from teaching, Frank returned to Crosby.  He enjoyed gardening, attempting (and succeeding) to grow hybrid tea roses and watching his purple martin colony.  He was active in environmental protection organizations and was deeply concerned with many challenges we face in protecting our fragile environment and the need to educate the public to address these critical issues now before it is too late.

Classroom teaching was his greatest interest and he received much satisfaction from working with young people.  He took great pride in the achievements made by his former students in their adult lives, becoming solid citizens and their contributions they made to the betterment of society.  He kept in contact with many of them to the very end.  He was also a good friend to many other people he met in his journey through life, and he will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Tony, Myron and Joseph; and sisters, Ann, Elsie, Dorothy, Stella and Mary.

He was a last survivor of a large family.  He is survived by several nieces and nephews and many friends.

He would like to thank all the employees of the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center who helped make his frequent trips to the medical facility as pleasant as possible, especially the laboratory workers, radiology staff, Dr. George Kuhlmann and Dr. Peter J. Stokman, and their supportive staff members.  The expertise, civility, kindness, consideration and tolerance shown by ALL of them was exceptional and greatly appreciated.

In 2019, White Bear Lake celebrated a centennial of having a senior high school of 100 years of excellence in the Field of Education.  Frank was one of three former nominees to be elected to the academic group by former staff and students.  He was very proud of being selected for this award because it was presented to him by his peers.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 27, 2022 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Crosby. Burial will be at the Lakewood Cemetery in Crosby.  A visitation will be held on Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.  The funeral will be recorded and put on the church website, cuyunacatholic.org.