Dante August Iacovoni

Dante August Iacovoni, 90, passed peacefully into eternal life at Marquette General Hospital, Marquette Michigan on Friday August 13, 2021 with his family by his side.  Dante had valiantly fought the complications of cardiovascular disease and knew his Lord was waiting for him.

Dante, the only child of Dante and Eleanore Iacovoni, was born in Detroit, Michigan, raised in West Dearborn, and graduated with the class of 1948 from West Dearborn High School.  He attended Michigan Technological University, graduating in 1952, having majored in metallurgical engineering.  He served in the United States Armed Services, U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955 to serve in the Korean war.  Upon his honorable discharge, Dante began his post-graduate studies  graduating with B.S. & M.S. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1952 and 1956. He began his professional career in 1955 at Chrysler Corporation, and later (1959) joined Lindberg General Signal in Chicago, Il where he spent the largest portion of his career, becoming National VP Sales and Marketing, eventually becoming Vice President of International Marketing in 1976. During this time, he received an MBA from Western Michigan University in 1975, and was an active and contributive member of his profession by providing expertise as a Director of the Industrial Heating Equipment Association, and by serving on the Energy Committee of the Forging Industry Association. Upon his retirement from Lindberg, Dante formed Gemini International LLC, a consulting business dealing with international marketing and sales.

Throughout his professional lifetime, Dante has been a great friend to Michigan Tech and the Metallurgical Engineering (now Materials Science and Engineering) Department.  Dante was active in alumni events, and served on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 1966-1970. He served as a Trustee of the Michigan Tech Fund from 1985-1995 and was a member of the University’s President Society. As a student at Tech, he was a member of the American Society for Metals and the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. 

In 2008, Dante was inducted into the Metallurgical and Materials Academy at Michigan Tech in recognition of his significant professional accomplishments and the many contributions he made toward ensuring the continuing success of the University, the metallurgy department, and its students. Dante and his wife Joyce are also Charter members of the Rozsa Center of the Performing Arts.

In 2000, Dante and Joyce returned to the Copper Country after fifty years away and built a new home on Bete Grise Bay, Keweenaw Peninsula, Lake Superior. In his lifetime Dante pursued many personal interests: he was a speed skater as a high school youth, a downhill skier; baseball pitcher for his army team; squirt hockey coach; men’s hockey team player; tenor in the church choir; played and sang with his Gibson guitar; a licensed pilot; a deep sea diver; practiced the art of judo with son, he was an avid bow & arrow hunter as well as rifle hunter, a fisherman (stream & lake); loved playing chess; a cross-word puzzle addict; a lover of his dogs, especially his Great Pyrenees, who lived to just short of 15 years. He was a loyal member of the “Skinny Club” in Calumet Michigan.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Joyce (Rautiola), four children and six grandchildren, who will miss him, dearly. Rest in Peace Dante, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

Dante has previously been interred in a green burial at Chassell Cemetery, Chassell Michigan. Memorial Services will take place at Phoenix Church, Keweenaw Peninsula, U.S. 41, at 1:00pm, Sept. 19, 2021; followed by military funeral honors at the gravesite at 3:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers please send donations to your local humane society, in Dante’s memory.  Covid guidelines including mask use will be followed at all times.  Due to the natural burial site, proper footwear should be worn. Following the cemetery service, a reception will be held at the Rozsa Center on the Tech Campus at 4:00 P.M.
Memorial Services and reception will also take place at Faith Lutheran Church, Lake Forest Illinois, in September. Please call the church for hours and date.

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