Donald J. Wixtrom

Donald J. Wixtrom, 88, of Witch Lake, died Wed. Jan. 25, 2017 at his home. He was born in Witch Lake on Oct. 14, 1928, the son of the late Joseph and Edith (Johnson) Wixtrom Donald graduated for Republic High School as the salutatorian of his class. He had a love of language and spoke Swedish and English at home and studied Latin in high school. At the age of eighteen, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and lived for two years in the Morgan Heights Sanitarium in Marquette. During this time he used short wave radio and Reader's Digest to expand his knowledge of foreign languages. By the time he left, he was able to translate ten different languages. Using this knowledge, he started his own business, Wixtrom Translations, translating foreign documents, mainly science, technical, and medical, into English. At the time of his retirement he was able to translate twenty-five languages. He taught Finnish classes for adult education classes and worked for the Department of Agriculture. Donald enjoyed the outdoors and being in the woods. He enjoyed woodcutting, picking blueberries, hunting, and making maple syrup, tapping 600-800 trees a year for over 35 years. He also had a bountiful vegetable garden. He was a member and former Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church of Witch Lake. He married Marilyn Sjoquist in Oct. 14, 1961 at Homestead Baptist Church. The couple enjoyed traveling , going to Sweden twice, on an Alaskan cruise, a Panama Canal cruise, and visiting several places in the United States. She preceded him in death on July 8, 2016. Donald is survived by three children Joe (Cindy) Wixtrom of Marquette, Lorna (Patrick) Carey of Channing, and Aaron (Shelly) Wixtrom of Witch Lake, one sister Shirley (Edsel) Salo of Watton, MI, fourteen grandchildren Hannah (Taylor) Hicks, Parker Carey, Grace Carey, Gunnar (Jessi) Wixtrom, Kara (Kyle Cushway) Wixtrom, Celia Wixtrom, Noah Wixtrom, Larissa Wixtrom, Madeline Wixtrom, Dane Wixtrom, Morgan McAuliffe, Luke McAuliffe, Tyler (Kara) McCarty, and Audrey McCarty, five great grandchildren Colt and Reid Hicks, Kylee West, and Lilli and Lainey McCarty, and many nieces and nephews. Visitation will be Saturday from 1-3pm Eastern Time at the First Baptist church of Witch Lake. Funeral services will follow at 3pm at the church. Rev. Keven Brownfield will officiate. Burial will be in the Republic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established. The family would like to give a special thank you to Donald's caregiver and friend, Mary Erickson. Condolences to the family of Donald J. Wixtrom may be expressed online at www.ernashfuneralhomes.com The family has entrusted the Erickson-Rochon & Nash Funeral Home with the funeral arrangements.

Donald J. Wixtrom

October 14, 1928 - January 25, 2017