In memoriam: Bun Carlson recalled as a funny, kind soul

Cloquet city councilor and local funny guy Warren "Bun" Carlson passed away Sunday, Jan. 12, from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart disease. In his second term on the council, Carlson was first elected to the Ward 1 seat in November 2018. Well known for his involvement in local hockey programs - as player, coach and radio personality - Carlson easily won reelection in 2022.

Carlson grew up playing hockey in Cloquet, graduating from Cloquet Senior High in 1974. He served as senior class president and lettered in football, tennis and hockey.

He attended the College of St. Scholastica, graduating in 1978 with a bachelor of arts degree in business management. He was a goalie for the Saints men's hockey team that won two NAIA championship titles. He also played tennis at CSS.

Steve Jezierski did broadcasts of Lumberjacks boys hockey games during Carlson's senior season. He said he got to know Carlson better after his playing career ended and he was Bruce Plante's assistant coach for the Purple Bantam team. That team included seven players who went on to play Division I hockey, including Corey Millen, Jim Sprenger, Brian Durand, Marty Ketola and Jim Plankers. They would form the nucleus for Cloquet's first state hockey tournament team.

"When that group of players hit high school, Bun started broadcasting with me. He did the color," Jezierski said.

Carlson was known for his self-deprecating humor when it came to being a backup goalie at CSS. He was backup "to an All-American goalie," Jezierski pointed out.

He recalled that in Carlson's senior year the Lumberjacks tied Duluth East, a feat since the 'Jacks had never beaten the Greyhounds.

"He made a stop in overtime on Phil Verchota on a breakaway," Jezierski said. That would be the same Phil Verchota who is best known for being a member of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic team and captaining the 1984 Olympic team.

In his time on the Cloquet City Council, Carlson was a careful thinker, Cloquet mayor Roger Maki said, and a strong advocate for youth sports. He also served on the Cloquet Area Fire District board.

"Occasionally he would go against something I voted for, but on the council we have now, that doesn't produce a fight," Maki said. "He was just a good steady person who thought things through and voted the way he thought was best."

Carlson's health had been declining for some time.

"He was a good and decent man," Maki said. "He helped us right the ship on the council. I'm saddened by his death."

Friends all mention Carlson's sense of humor first.

His best friend was Steve Kolb. The two of them met in elementary school through mutual friends who played hockey. They were friends for close to 60 years, making many fishing and hunting trips together. There were also trips to the Boundary Waters, although those got more difficult when it became paddle-only, Kolb said.

"He always had to do something to get someone to laugh," Kolb said. "In fact, I was laughing with him Saturday morning at St. Luke's. We laughed for about an hour-and-a-half."

Kolb also said Carlson could do a heck of a chainsaw impression.

"He did some really goofy stuff," Kolb said. "He was serious on city council, where he should be. But in his heart, he was a jokester."

Carlson married Brenda Johansen on April 19, 1986. The two of them had two daughters: now Alexa (Paul) Deppeler and Kelly (John) Scheuer.

Bun had coached her brother in hockey, and got to know Brenda better at Rudy's Cafe, where she was a waitress.

Brenda said she loved her husband's sense of humor and that he was a real family man.

"When I would be stressed out, he would be laid back," she said. "Also, he was a very attentive, great dad and he loved being a 'papa,'" she added, referring to the preferred nickname from their granddaughter Hazel Scheuer, age 2. "Family meant a lot to him."

Jezierski said the same.

"He took so much pride in his two girls," he said. "He always had an update for you."

Carlson also loved his hometown. He tried working in the Twin Cities area after college but "found that living there wasn't for me," he wrote in a campaign biography in 2018. "I wanted to live and raise my family in Cloquet."

He grew up in Cloquet, one of four boys born to Sylvia and Lawrence Carlson. Brother Keith Carlson said the family was very close, likely because of the fall weekends - Labor Day to Thanksgiving - at the hunting camp in Cromwell. The whole family went, he said, "and we became tight." Keith said he talked to Bun nearly every day and they still hunted together well into their adult lives.

Keith said, yes, his brother "could have been a comedian," but there was something else people might not know. "My brother was very, very kind," he said. "He cared about people. And that came from our parents."

In the 1980s Bun worked with at-risk youth for the city of Cloquet. The innovative position was eliminated when federal funding ran out. Carlson then went into sales for the next 30 years, working with local contractors, plumbers, builders and

businesses.

He never left hockey behind and was an ardent supporter of local teams. He coached the boys Bantam hockey program for more than a decade. When his two daughters were young, he coached their softball and hockey teams and also helped out with fundraisers, road trips, and practices.

"There were people who bled as much purple but no one who bled more," Jezierski said.

Brenda said her husband "felt called" to run for city council in 2018. He enjoyed it and learned a lot, she said.

"He was very proud to be from Cloquet," she said. "In fact, we watched the Hockey Day Cloquet game [on TV] at the hospital Saturday."

Reporter Mike Creger contributed to this story.

******

What's next

• With the death of incumbent city councilor Bun Carlson, Cloquet City Council will begin discussions Tuesday of how to fill the now vacant Ward 1 seat until the November 2026 election. City administrator Tim Peterson said the council can choose between appointing someone or holding a special election.

• A visitation for Carlson will be held 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 at Nelson Funeral Care in Cloquet. Visitation will resume at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday and will continue until the 1 p.m. memorial service at the Presbyterian Church of Cloquet. His obituary will appear in next week's Pine Knot News.