Oliver Raymond Kangas, 88 of Solomons, MD passed away on November 4, 2023 at Asbury Solomons, MD.
He was born on August 14, 1935 in Wisconsin to the late Oliver Nickolai Kangas and Anna Simaitis Kangas.
Oliver grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin along the banks of lake Michigan and served in the Marine Corp from 1953 to 1957.He married his lovely wife Catherine in 1958. He went to college at Parks College of St. Louis and graduated in 1961 in the top 10% of his class with a degree in aeronautical engineering while having two of his three children.
He went on to work for general dynamics installing missiles in Kansas and upstate NY. He then went on to work for Grumman on many of the Apollo missions including the missions that sent the first manned flight to the moon. He then moved to southern Maryland in 1969 where he finished his career at Pax River Naval Air Station, retiring in 2000.
Oliver enjoyed sailing and anything to do with the water, he was an avid tennis player, he enjoyed biking, gardening, and could fix just about anything. He was always tinkering with something and helping many others with projects of their own.
The family will receive friends on Monday, November 20, 2023 from 10:00 to 11:00 am followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am, at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, 14400 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, MD 20688. Interment will follow at 1:00 pm at St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery, 16566 Three Notch Road, Ridge, MD 20680.
He is survived by his wife, Catherine; children, Linda Anne Karaczynski (Jake) of Leonardtown, MD and Joseph Alan Kangas (Pam) of Ridge, MD; brother, John B. Kangas (Debbie) of Phoenix, AZ; granddaughter, Katie May Dixon (Ryan Ducey) of Seattle, WA, and one great granddaughter, Rowan Josephine Ducey and step grandson Nick Nowotny of Hollywood, MD
The family went through the devastating loss of their first son Michael Kangas in 2005 who will never be forgotten.
Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.
Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A.
