Obituary of Kris T. Liljeblad

Kris T. Liljeblad was born in Green Bay, WI August 22, 1950 to Patsy and Guy Liljeblad. They moved to Duluth in 1951. He grew up in a loving family with an appreciation for the outdoors; camping, fishing, hunting, and he developed interests in biking and running marathons.

He served his community by volunteering on commissions, homeowners associations, and working on Grandma’s Marathon to cheer on the participants. He was especially happy to help serve lutefisk at his church to all the lucky ones who had the taste for it, including himself.

He was a loving soul to his wife, Lana, of 53 years; their two daughters, Tara (Tracy) Shearer, Natasha (Matt) Kim; granddaughters, Gabriella Quijano, Rachel Shearer, Ansley Kim and Ava Kim, a devoted son to Patsy (96) and Guy, who passed in 2001 at 73. A loving brother to Frank Liljeblad; sisters, Gyneth (Mike) Slygh and Kari Liljeblad, a good uncle to six nephews, Grant Jr., Shaun, Kerry, Kelly, and Kory Abramson, John Liljeblad; and two nieces, Erin Abrahamson and Anna Liljeblad. His life was full and family was of utmost importance to him.

Always industrious from caddying at Ridgeview Golf Course to selling shoes at Clark’s Shoe Co. to Sears in St. Paul. While at UMD he worked at DMIR. After graduation with a BA he landed a job as a transportation planner with the City of Duluth and moved on to ARDC. In 1981 he and his family moved to Tucson, AZ to work for the City of Tucson as Transportation Planner.

He moved on to consulting firms BRW and CH2MHill still as a transportation planner but a different view. He went back to government, City of Bellevue, WA and then consulting with Perteet, Inc. In 2013 he took a job in Akron, OH with Metropolitan Transit. So he did it all. Trains, automobiles, and finally buses. In 2016, he retired and moved back to Duluth. After a couple years of retirement he took a position with the City of Duluth and finally retired for the second time. After a few months he was called to work at ARDC/MIC to help out for a bit. He retired for the third time in April.

He stayed active in the American Planning Association and the Institute of Planning Engineers. He was always looking to help someone or some group. He was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor right after Mother’s Day. He was set to fight it with all he had, but was called home to our Lord on June 2nd , 2023.

A Celebration of Life is to be held at First Lutheran Church, 1100 East Superior Street, on Wednesday, July 19th at 1:00 p.m.