Leroy Keranen. Photo used by permission.

TORRENCE, CA — A memorial service will be held in California and online Saturday for Leroy Keranen, a Copper Country native, who despite spending most of his life in California, had a history of philanthropy to the area where he grew up. Keranen, a Michigan Tech alumni, died January 28 in Torrence, CA following a short illness. He was 85. According to his obituary, Keranen was born in Marwuette, grew up in Nissula, attended the Laird School in Alston and graduated from Baraga High School in 1957.

He graduated from Michigan Tech with a degree in electrical engineering in 1961 and after graduating moved to California where he resided for the rest of his life. Although he no longer lived in the Copper Country, through his generosity, he continued to make a difference in this areafor decades. He was employed by AC Electronics Division of General Motors in El Segundo, designing electronic equipment for aircraft and missiles. From 1967-99 he was employed by TRW Space and Defense (now part of Northrup Grumman) in Redondo Beach, where he designed electronic equipment to control unmanned spacecraft for astronomy, communication, environmental monitoring, and classified missions.

In an interview on MTU’s Alumni and Friends web page, Keranen said he choose Michigan Tech because he wanted to be an electrical engineer, he could commute from his Nissula home and he received a scholarship. In the interview, Keranen expressed gratitude for the education and subsequent career and why he shared his time, talent and resources to his alma mater. ” I received a four-year scholarship while attending Michigan Tech from 1957-61. In gratitude I have established an endowed scholarship fund at Michigan Tech. My most serious hobby has been as investment manager of my life savings that provides modest support for Michigan Tech, my church, and many other non-profit organizations.”

Wes Frahm, MTU’s Director of Advancement & Alumni Communications said the Leroy R. Keranen Endowed Scholarship “helps (and will continue to do so into the future) undergraduate students in engineering or science from Baraga, Houghton, and Ontonagon Counties. His philanthropy to Michigan Tech began in 1972 and covered more than 50 years.”

William Roberts, Tech’s Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement, said “We are sorry to hear of Mr. Keranen’s passing. We are grateful for his continued support of Michigan Tech over many years.”

Keranen never forgot Tech’s Electrical Engineering Department (now Electrical and Computer Engineering) and supported it for decades. In 2015, according to the EE publication The Circuit, a Keranen donation helped turn a “well-worn teaching and learning space,” in a modern user-friendly lecture hall. The donation for the lecture hall was the second significant gift to the Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC). A Keranen gift in the 2012-13 academic year provided for new chalkboard for all classrooms and lecture halls in the EERC.

His generosity extended beyond Michigan Tech as evidenced by the Leroy Keranen Conference Room in the Former Finlandia University’s Jutila Center.

According to his obituary, Keranen was a “do-it-yourselfer” and loved to go day-hiking, alone or with companions, in the mountains and National Parks, especially Yosemite, Sequoia and Grand Canyon. He spent much time tracing his ancestry to the Kainuu region of Finland back to the early 1700s and late 1600s. He spoke enough Finnish to enjoy making three 4-week trips to Finland (in 1978, ’82 and ’96) and meeting very many distant cousins and their families. About three dozen have visited his home, especially while his parents were still living.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. (PDT), 2 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at First Lutheran Church in Torrance. The service will be streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/@FLCSLIVE/streams. And will remain on YouTube for several days @FLCSLIVE.