Steve John Semenchuk

Steve John Semenchuk, 87, of Duluth MN, passed away peacefully at Essentia Health on Monday, Sept. 16, after a brief illness. 

Steve was born on March 11, 1937, to Paul John and Anastasia (Kahut) Semenchuk in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in Sudbury before heading to the United States to attend Tri-State University (now Trine University) in Angola IN. He graduated from Tri-State with a degree in chemical engineering and, on April 22, 1961, married the love of his life, Virginia Joan Collard, in Sudbury. Steve spent the next 40 years in the paper industry, working as an executive at paper mills in Niagara WI, Park Falls WI and Duluth MN. 

Steve is survived by his children Kathy (Tom Oates) Semenchuk of Madison WI, Dr. Lori (Forrest Monroe) Walker of Aurora CO and John (Cindy) Semenchuk of Marshfield WI; grandchildren Nicola Walker, Michael Walker, Maria Semenchuk and Ruby Semenchuk; nephews Michael Dutka and Morris Dutka; sister-in-law Jane Hawthorne, brother-in-law Ron Hawthorne, nephew Jeffrey Hawthorne and niece Nancy Neil along with many great friends and neighbors. He was preceded in death by wife Joan, parents Paul and Anastasia, sister Helen Steciuk and brother-in-law Emil Dutka. 

Steve was an exceptional man in many ways. He was proud of his Ukrainian heritage, Canadian upbringing and, above all, his adoring family. He was known as a tough but fair businessman and was among those who designed and built the pulp and paper mills in Duluth in the 1980s. At home, he could fix anything (or at least try). 

He will be remembered as a man of strong passions, including family, travel, fishing, cribbage and a good bottle of Scotch or wine. Often, he mixed all of those together. After Steve retired in 2000, he and Joan traveled extensively, usually with family in tow, especially Kathy and Tom. He was famous for meticulously planning fishing trips to Lake of the Woods, Canada, with family and friends. He especially loved fishing with his son John and his four grandchildren. He even gave himself a nickname: The Walleye Wizard. His most cherished times were family Christmases in Duluth. 

Whatever Steve was involved in, he did it all out. He loved life and he lived life. He was generous, thoughtful and, most of all, fun to be around. He took advantage of every opportunity that came his way and made sure everyone around him was having just as much fun as he was. As his kids like to say, he didn't get cheated. They even found an anonymous quote and modified it slightly to fit their father: "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Scotch in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, screaming Woo Hoo, What a Ride."

A private funeral service will be held in Duluth at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Steve’s name be made to the Damiano Center, 206 W. 4th St. #214, Duluth MN 55806.

Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home, 218-727-3555. Please visit www.dfhduluth.com to sign the online guestbook.