Maj. Michael Arvid Korhonen, retired Alaska State Trooper of Chehalis, Wash., passed away April 30, 2016, at Centralia Providence Hospital due to complications from lung cancer. He was 73.
Maj. Michael Arvid Korhonen
He was born Nov. 21, 1942, in Juneau, the son of Mike and Virginia Korhonen. He graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1961, and married his wife, Evelyn, in Juneau March 9, 1962.
Mike started his career in law enforcement after high school. He joined the Juneau Police Department as a cadet in 1961, then the Alaska State Troopers in 1964.
Along with service in Anchorage, Bethel and Juneau, Mike was stationed in Sitka, where he was with the Public Safety Academy for 12 years, serving as academy commander for the last few years.
Mike retired from the Alaska State Troopers as a major in 1987. He was the fourth recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers in 2014.
Mike was a member and former director of the American Dairy Goat Association; the Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club; Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers; and the Eagles.
He also spent many years in Micronesia as Officer in Charge of police training; and worked on contract with Intoximeter doing breathalyzer training.
He leaves behind his wife of 54 years, Evelyn; daughter Kimberley of Chicago; son Michael and wife Darcy and their daughter, Lily (the apple of her grandfather’s eye) of Seattle; brother Allen Korhonen and wife Laddene of Caldwell, Idaho; sister Sue Turner and husband, Art, of Yelm, Wash.; numerous nieces and nephews; and an abundance of friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mike and Virginia Korhonen, and a brother, Kenneth.
A celebration of Mike’s life will be scheduled later this summer.
