William W. Rajaniemi, age 74, of Grant Township, passed away Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, at Aspirus Keweenaw hospital in Laurium. He was born March 20, 1951, in Laurium, to William G. Rajaniemi and Judith E. Hill. He attended the Calumet schools, and received his diploma in 1981 after taking night classes to complete his high school studies in the winter of 1980-81.
He believed that he lived a life that others dreamt of. In that life,
he married twice, first to Kimberly J. Kilpela in Rapid City, South Dakota, with whom he had two sons who survive him: William J and John Rajaniemi of Mohawk.
His second marriage was to Susan Douglas Herring in 2005, on the beach east of Little Betsy, who also survives him.
He was a member of the Merchant Marine starting in 1969 through the mid-1970s. In the mid-to

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