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We lived across the alley from Elmer and Mary Alice from 1991-93. Both of them were such great neighbors. We remember Elmer's great and creative use of space and recycled materials. His sense of humor still brings a smile to my face; like when we asked him to marry my wife and I - and he said he would if he was still a judge, but that he turned in his robes a while before that. I told him that I often wondered what judges wore under those black robes, and he gave us that wide grin and said - less than you think when the courtroom gets warm... Elmer tread softly on this beautiful earth and left friends as he passed. He is a good soul and I wish him well on his journey.

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Dear Mary Alice, Ruth, Sylvia,Joseph and Edith, Our family has such fond memories of you all in various stages of growth and development, especially from the Solbakken days when Elmer and Mary Alice introduced us to the North Shore and the Boundary Waters providing our most treasured vacations while we were in Minnesota.Part of what made it so special was the warm welcome Elmer and Mary Alice gave us with lots of chance to socialize with them and Jay in the evenings in the tiny kitchen.I remember Elmer as always having a bemused expression on his face which matched his droll sense of humor.Considering the rigors of co-running a motel on Lake Superior,raising a family,having his father in law living with him,taking earnestly social issues and politics not to mention being a lawyer this playfullness was no small achievment.Our condolences to each of of you during this loss. With love, Hope and Joe Brogunier

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Frank Barrett
14 years ago

My clearest memory of Uncle Elmer was when we visited our cousins at their motel and cabins on the shores of Lake Superior. One time we played softball in the parking lot. Uncle Elmer organized it and taught me and my brothers the rules for a no-teams version of softball. He was loud and competitive. We loved it.

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Jay E. Barrett
14 years ago

As one of the sons of Elmer's wife's sister I (Jay Barrett) accompanied Daniel Barrett on our youthful annual (usually) visits to Minnesota from our place in Western Illinois. I remember that four adults and eight children made for a friendly, chaotic couple of days of each visit. I also recognized the impressive building skills with which Elmer converted a suburban acreage into a home. That home included a barn with rabbits and goats. While I suspect that Elmer wanted to regard the animals as food only, there was always a creeping tendency to make them pets. The inevitable butchering then became a bittersweet harvest. In suburban Minneapolis and later on the north shore of Lake Superior, I never saw Elmer in a hurry. But I also never saw him entirely at rest. Elmer always had time for relatives and the conversation Bertha and Mary Alice had when together. But there always was the next building project and I respected that. I also remember the annual family letters on recycled stationery, regularly sent to those of us who were never quite as regular in reply. I will miss Elmer.

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Steven W. Steinle
14 years ago

I remember the first time I met Elmer Harvey in 1981. I was a young attorney practicing with a firm in Benson, Mn., but having an unbridled desire to live in Grand Marais. I, (along with my accepting spouse) came up to Grand Marais and began looking for office space. Upon finding suitable space I began looking for another attorney to share that space and the rent. I arrived at Elmer and Mary Alice's home in Grand Marais, unannouned, but found no one home. A neighbor told me Elmer would probably be home soon, so I waited on the front steps. After awhile I observed a small grey bearded man walking down the street from the hill above. He appeared somewhat disheveled, with a tattered coat and a ragged stocking hat, carrying a stick over his shoulder to which was attached a red bandana pouch. He appeared to me to be a hobo, or at least what I envisioned a hobo to be. I would later discover he may have also been referred to as a "vagabond", a term as used frequently by the long time Cook County Sheriff, John Lyght. I asked this rumpled fellow if he knew of one Elmer Harvey, retired Probate Judge and local attorney. His reply was "You've found him!", to my amazement. We then sat on his steps and talked and laughed for the next couple of hours. Thereafter we corresponded between Grand Marais and Benson about a plan to share office space in the Humphrey building at the top of the hill, just West of Grand Marais. Elmer's envelopes were always previously used envelopes and they usually had a hand writtten notation on the outside such as "Save a tree, recycle an envelope". His stationary was usually hotel vacation stationary from the 50's and 60's with 2-color prints in the letterhead of beach goers or vacationers frolicking in the water at beachside, or other paper of that nature, again recycled from somewhere. I knew I had found an office mate I would be comfortable with. Elmer and I then hired a secretary, bought a copier together, made arrangements to share his law library, and we were in business. He was of great help to me early on as I learned the practical aspects of real estate and probate law practice, having done mostly criminal defense and civil dispute work in the past. Elmer referred work to me that he no longer wished to handle, due to his prior heart attack, and this was of great benefit to me in getting started. He was always an available mentor who would provide real life insight into legal questions and then comic relief when the stress of a new private practice became taxing at times. On occassion Elmer and I would join Jim Sommerness, another long time Grand Marais attorney, for a cold beer at the "Powerhouse", where the three of us would commisserate on the "jealous mistress" that is the private practice of law. I will miss Elmer's sense of humor and his kind heart. I will miss his ready stories, as told with a twinkle in his eye and with twitching eyebrows. I will miss his laugh and the uniqueness that was Elmer. He was one of kind and I am sure that is why we all loved him. There are many more stories to remember and share, not the least of which is when Elmer stopped by my office to say goodbye, as he was leaving for vacation to Kansas, and for the burial of his mother. Mother was in a pine casket in the back of Elmer's mini-pickup truck, with chairs to be delivered to relatives tied atop the coffin. Elmer was grinning and wearing a t-shirt that said "Buy me a drink, it is my birthday". He took the law and his practice very seriously but he also took many things in stride, and accepted our short term life here on earth in a matter of fact manner, knowing I believe, that he would be creating stories and telling them in an even better place someday. He did want the Earth to be a better place and he certainly did his part to help with that. I believe it is a better place as a result of his being here and touching all of us with his uniqueness. Mary Alice and Elmer's family have our heartfelt and deepest sympathy in their loss of Elmer from their lives. I has been an honor and pleasure to have known him. Steve Steinle and Mary Steinle

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daniel Barrett
14 years ago

Uncle Elmer, Aunt Mary Alice and our 4 cousins were our only close relatives besides our Grandparents and so it was a special treat when ever we could visit them. Elmer had built a house and goat barn in Lake Elmo that was much nicer than our little old house in the city. Elmer always seemed to have something funny to say. His eye brows twitched up and down each time he spoke and, like Groucho Marx, his eye brows made everything he said seem a little more light hearted. Daniel Barrett

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daniel Barrett
14 years ago

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suzanna.roettger
14 years ago

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