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Alexander “Sandy” McKusick |
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 Alexander “Sandy” McKusick, 84, passed away on April 6, at the Villages of North Branch. He was the youngest of six sons born to Frederick and Mathilda (Topinka) McKusick in Pine City, Minn., where he grew up. Sandy was active in high school sports, lettering in football, basketball and baseball. In 1941, he was named Basketball Player of the Week by Dick Cullum, Minneapolis Star-Journal, for scoring 22 points in a conference game.
After graduating from high school in 1942, Sandy enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve his country during World War II. Sandy earned the rank of Torpedoman First Class and was assigned to the destroyer USS Watts. He served in the South Pacific until the Japanese surrendered in 1945. His ship was in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was signed. Sandy was honorably discharged from the Navy; he was always proud to have served the country that he loved.
After his discharge, Sandy attended college in Duluth for a short time, while working summers on Great Lakes ore carriers as a deck hand. He transferred to St. Cloud Teachers College where he graduated in 1950 with a degree in history, and a coaching certificate.
In 1951, Sandy began his teaching and coaching career in Hanley Falls, Minn. In the fall of 1953, he came to North Branch to teach American and World History, and to coach basketball and assist in football.
In 1962, he became the first Athletic Director at North Branch High School, a job he held until 1972. He then transferred to the Middle School to teach 7th-grade American history. He remained there until he retired in 1985. Sandy spent a total of 35 years in education.
While in college, Sandy met Marylou Blakeslee. In 1950 they married in the First Presbyterian Church in Mankato, Minn. To this union, two children were born: Jonathan Blake McKusick and Constance Louise McKusick.
For several years following their retirement, Sandy and Marylou spent the winter months in Arizona, and the summer months at the cabin in Gordon, Wisc. Sandy loved being by the lake in the woods with good friends and neighbors.
Sandy was a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge, Chisago Chapter #232, and a 28-year member of American Legion Post 85, both in North Branch. For several years Sandy was the president of the District 25 Coaches Association. For two years he was camp director at Kamp Kitchie Kahnis, on the north side of Mille Lacs Lake. This was a Big Brothers camp sponsored by the Minneapolis Optimists Club. In the early 70s, he chaperoned high school students for the American Institute for Foreign Studies in Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece. In 1983, Sandy was named History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
In 1997, Sandy was nominated for charter membership in the North Branch Athletic Hall of Fame. Upon his induction, Sandy said, “Teaching and coaching have fulfilled my need and desire to work with young people. I am proud that many of them have gone on to lead very successful lives.”
Alexander McKusick is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marylou, his son Jonathan (Sharon) and daughter Connie (Kenny); Two grandchildren, Corey (Stephanie) and Heidi (Bobby); five great-grandchildren, Alexander, Olivia and Jack McKusick and Riley and Haylee Altenburg; two sisters-in-law, Shirley McKusick, Sacramento, Calif., and Betty Jarvis, Lindstrom, Minn., and many nephews, nieces, colleagues and friends.
Visitation will take place from 4-8 p.m. Friday, May 16 at Grandstrand Funeral Home in North Branch.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the United Methodist Church in North Branch. Inurnment will follow at about 1 p.m. at Birchwood Cemetery, Pine City, Minn. The family prefers memorials to the Sandy McKusick Athletics Fund, North Branch School.
Arrangements are under the direction of Grandstrand Funeral Home in North Branch.
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