Portage Twp. trustee resigns
Portage Twp. trustee resigns
Kangas cites health concerns, family
By Garrett Neese, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Portage Township board member Ken Kangas resigned Wednesday, citing an impending move out of the township and a desire to spend more time with family.
Kangas, who had been on the board since November 1996, will be relocating to Calumet, making him ineligible to serve on the board.
In September, he will head to Wyoming, where he lived for 20 years.
“I have family there that I don’t see very often,” he said.
In recent years, Kangas has been beset by a variety of medical problems, including hip replacement surgery and the installation of a pacemaker. He also suffered the loss of his wife, Sharon, last year.
The resulting isolation, as well as the physical toll of shoveling snow and other chores, convinced him to move.
“I’m a people person, and I just couldn’t take another winter like that,” he said.
In the end, Kangas said, his life and his health are more important to him than the recurring problems that come before the board.
“It’s been a challenge, and I’ve enjoyed it, but you come to the point where you’re always in the same place,” he said.
Among those frustrations, he said, had been the lengthy sewage negotiations with Houghton.
“I just wondered why they wouldn’t sit down and listen to our situation,” he said. “A majority of our budget was going to the sewage plant, which, to me, was absurd,” he said.
Kangas also cited the negative effects Wal-Mart’s opening had on the Copper Country Mall, which has been one of the township’s biggest engines for economic growth.
“That was a center, and it’s still trying to be,” he said. “I hope it can come back.”
Still, he said, there have been a number of accomplishments of which he’s proud. The township’s roads have greatly improved, while township beautification ordinances have paid off as well.
He’s also happy with the progress at the Dodgeville Recreation Area. The location received a grant earlier this year, which paid for, among other things, putting blacktop on the ice rink.
“At home when I’m out, there are always things going on,” he said.
Portage Township Supervisor Bill Bingham said Kangas will be missed on the board. He said Kangas has always been known for his honesty.
“If he had something to say to you, he would say it to your face ... ” he said.
This was just the latest stop for Kangas. A Copper Country native, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 18, then went to Eastern Michigan University before teaching school in Garden City, Mich. and Calumet.
From there, he moved to Wyoming, where he met his wife, who was working as a special education instructor. He worked for 20 years in oil/gas processing before moving to Portage Township.
He was expecting things to be as they were 30 years before, he said. But reality was different.
The names on the mailboxes were different in the country. Then came his health problems, and those of his wife’s.
“From then, it’s been downhill,” he said. “But I feel great, and I’m ready for what lies ahead, whatever it is.”
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com
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