Alan Kalitta

Alan Paul Kalitta, age 78, of Metz, passed away from dementia on June 28, 2022 at Medilodge of Alpena.

He was born on June 19, 1944 in Dearborn to Erwin and Lucille (Gonya, later Schalk) Kalitta, before moving up north as a child.

He spent most of his life in Presque Isle County until he had to relocate to nursing homes, first in Alcona County and then Alpena County, in his final 2 years. He was a licensed electrician at Calcite in Rogers City for 34 years, where he was known as Hopper, and was very good at what he did. As a teenager he even built his own working stereo from scratch! He repaired many electronics for friends and family during his lifetime as well. In 1998, he discovered computers and the internet and became an expert at that as well. He loved music and was a very talented musician himself, spending most of the 70’s and 80’s as the bass player for The Jack Daniels Band, playing classic locations such as the Metropole Bar in Onaway and The Silvertop Bar in Afton, both of which are long gone now. He loved almost any genre of music, both new and old, and his favorite kinds of songs were upbeat ones with good drums and catchy bass lines. He also loved traveling before herniated discs in his back made sitting in the car for days too painful and he took his family on two trips every summer to places like Canada, the UP, Florida, South Dakota, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as trips to Wisconsin to see family. He enjoyed taking his family to places like the Great Smokey Mountains, Disney World, Busch Gardens, the Badlands of South Dakota, Wall Drug, The House on the Rock and many more. His very favorite place was Opryland in Tennessee before it was shut down in 1997.  When he was younger he enjoyed camping, fishing and riding motorcycles. He enjoyed watching his cousins Connie, Scott and Doug Kalitta drag race on TV. He was a great person always helping others and he had many long conversations with his best friends. He loved dogs and had many beloved companions, including Molly, Zipper, Biskit and Toby. He loved living in the country with lots of peace and quiet, where he would sit on the porch and watch the hummingbirds at the feeders and he enjoyed taking the golf cart out for rides to find apples. He also enjoyed just getting in the car and hitting the back roads to see where he would end up, enjoying being out in the country.

Alan is survived by his wife of 47 years-Nancy (Schoolcraft) Kalitta, his children-Tennille (Don) Wilton and Travis (Amber) Kalitta, three sisters-Marlene (Jack) Schalk, Jeanie (Pat) Delekta and Brenda (Dan) Gilmet and 6 grandchildren-Tony, Cathy, Felicity, Auren, Mason, Evlyn and 2 great-grandchildren-Xander and Cameron.

He is proceeded in death by his mother Lucille, his father Erwin, his step-father Ray, his grandparents, aunts and uncles, his cousin Scott Kalitta and his best friends Ron and Mick.

No services are planned at this time.