Hundreds celebrate Carl Pohlad's life fully lived

The approximately 1,400 mourners who gathered Thursday for Carl Pohlad's funeral mass included two archbishops, a U.S. senator, corporate titans and sports legends. Outside the glorious Basilica of St. Mary, an armada of stretch limousines snaked around the block.

The two-hour service, though, traded grandeur for humility. The billionaire Twin Cities businessman and Minnesota Twins owner, who died Monday at age 93, was given a warm, dignified farewell that celebrated the humanity behind his public persona. From stories of the childhood tales he told his three sons to the banter he shared with his caretakers, Pohlad's funeral told of a life fully lived by a man well loved by his family and friends.

Mourners included Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, Sen. Norm Coleman and entrepreneur Irwin Jacobs. Twins greats Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, Kent Hrbek, Paul Molitor and Bert Blyleven were there, as was manager Ron Gardenhire, who sat with former Twins general manager Andy MacPhail.

They joined Tom Kelly, who managed the Twins to two World Series championships after Pohlad bought the team in 1984, and Mike Opat, the Hennepin County commissioner who helped broker the deal that led to the new Twins stadium. On this day, though, baseball and business deferred to a family's devotion.

"Our dad was the American dream, a man who made so much from so little," said Bob Pohlad, who with brothers Jim and Bill delivered eulogies. "To us, he was simply our dad, a small word with a very big meaning.

"The Talmud says, 'When you teach your son, you teach your son's son.' That is the measure of our dad, and I hope it is for us."

Underneath the basilica's grand arches, still bedecked with the white poinsettias and evergreens of the Christmas season, a cadre of clergy celebrated a traditional Catholic funeral mass. Archbishop John Nienstedt and Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, along with Basilica pastor, the Rev. John Bauer, and the Rev. Ralph Goman, Pohlad's pastor for 12 years, prayed as incense floated toward the ceiling with the voices of the Basilica choir.

Pohlad's grandchildren delivered the readings, and Goman's homily told of the friendships Pohlad developed with the men and women who cared for him and his late wife, Eloise, for the past decade.

"I visited on Sunday afternoons, and when it was time to pray, Carl would shout, 'Girls, girls, it's time for church!'" Goman recalled. "The aides would come in, and Carl would inevitably single one out and say, 'This one needs to go to confession.'

"Then the banter would begin with Carl and the girls about who really needed a confession. They loved Carl dearly. There were so many friends at his side."

Between solo performances of "Ave Maria" and "Danny Boy," Bob, Jim and Bill Pohlad each shared memories. Jim, who runs many of the family's core businesses, said his father's main measure of wealth was found in the richness of his personal relationships. Bill, a film producer and president of the Pohlad Family Foundation, recalled stories from their father's childhood.

Carl hopped trains to deliver bootleg liquor, Bill said. He swept floors at the local bank and drove the banker around to collect loans. He worked for cowboy star Tom Mix, and Bing Crosby recruited him to play football at Gonzaga University in Washington.

Pohlad, who was buried after the mass at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, remained a simple man in many ways, his sons said. Bob remembered his dad's favorite foods as sauerkraut, soup, meat loaf and a sandwich of mustard, strawberry jelly and bacon or sausage on toast. A family vacation to Europe covered six countries in five days, because Carl didn't like to be away from home.

"My favorite memory is the nights our dad got the three of us together in the dark of the bedroom and told us stories," Bill said. "He told us about two cowboys, Duke and Blackie, and about his adventures in the war. They were magical.

"He lived a life to rival anything Duke or Blackie did. He found the thing he loved to do most in the world, and he did it with passion. But among the hundreds of people who came to the memorial service, there wasn't a mention of the Marquette Bank merger or MEI Bottling. ... They came to remember the man and talk about the way he had touched their lives."

The funeral stayed true to that theme. Despite the many prominent mourners, Bob Pohlad saved the special recognition for his father's caregivers, who dabbed their eyes as Pohlad introduced each one.

And despite the many baseball stars in attendance, the game remained in the background until a prayer at the end of the service.

"Carl Pohlad was a team player who never forgot those he worked with," Nienstedt said. "We ask the heavenly umpire, whose judgment makes the ultimate call, to be certain Carl arrives home safely. May the glory of that crossing home be his, now and forever."