James Littig

James H. Littig, 81, of St. Peter MN died Saturday, March 13, 2010 at Grandview Good Samaritan Center in St. Peter. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, March 17 at 11am preceded by a visitation from 9am " 11am at the Catholic Church of St. Peter in St. Peter, MN. Memorials are preferred to the Church of St. Peter building fund.

Jim was born Sept. 10th, 1928 in Wadena, MN to Hartwell and Marge Littig. He graduated from Greenway High School in Coleraine, MN in 1946. The family moved to Kasota and Jim started working at the St. Peter State Hospital on July 14, 1947 as an attendant aide. Through the years while working full-time at the hospital Jim attended night classes at Mankato State University and earned a B.A. in Accounting and Economics, a M.A. in Business Administration, and an M.A. in Public Administration. Despite becoming legally blind in the early 70s, Jim enjoyed continued success in his career. By the time he retired in 1990 as the assistant hospital administrator he had been promoted eight times during his 43 years of service.

He served on many charitable, religious, and service organizations throughout his life. He was a member of the Lions Club for over 20 years, a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, received the Bishop's Award from the Catholic church for his decades of volunteer work on church committees, a member of the St. Peter United Way board for 6 years, and participated in numerous other clubs and activities where he charitably shared his wisdom, education, good humor, and sense of fellowship.

He married Irene Peters in 1956 in St. Peter. They had two children Suzanne and Steve. Irene died suddenly in 1973 due to a massive brain hemorrhage. He married Kathleen (Kitty) Bonderson in 1979 and they had 30 great years together enjoying their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They loved spending time at their cabin near Park Rapids: fishing on the lake, "putzing' around the yard, planning or working on one of many projects, listening to the haunting call of the loons, and sharing quiet time together. He could navigate his boat around the lake expertly and out fish the best of anglers.

Jim has been a proud charter season ticket holder of the Minnesota Vikings for nearly 50 years and he rarely missed attending, listening to, or watching a single game no matter what the challenge confronting him. In fact after losing his vision and before his son could drive, they hitchhiked up to the Vikings games. He passed his legacy of "Passion for the Purple' (some may argue it's a burden) on to his son Steve.

Jim was affectionately known as "The Old Poop" to family, friends, and anyone who could read the prominent "Old Poop" nametags he wore with humor and grace.

Survived by his wife Kitty, his daughter Suzanne Urban of Michigan, his son Steve (Jen) Littig of Michigan, Kitty's daughters Nancy (Kevin) Lindquist of Minneapolis, Diane (Tim) Braun of Nicollet, 10 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, sister Anne (Dean) Schleif of California, and many loving brothers and sisters in law, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and neighbors.

He was preceded in death by his parents, first wife Irene and his brother Bob Kamm.

Two of his favorite phrases were "Good Lord Willing" and "Not to worry" revealing his easy going nature and philosophy that through faith all things tend to work out just fine in the end.

And so he would like to say to those friends and family he has left behind who now dearly miss him, "Not to worry, good Lord willing we will meet again".