Friends, family host hockey party in honor of Mark Sertich’s 100th birthday

In a week that would have been Sertie’s 100th birthday, her friends and family gathered on Tuesday morning at the Heritage Center for hockey, which Sertie had been doing for years on her birthday.

DULUTH, Minn. – On Sunday, Mark “Sertie” Sertich, Duluth’s native and world’s oldest hockey player, would have turned 100 years old. He died last August, but his friends and family still wanted to celebrate his 100th birthday, and what better way to honor and celebrate a local hockey legend than on the ice.

“This is a game that Mark loved,” Cert friend Dane Youngblom said.

Before his death, Sertich spent his birthday every year for more than a decade on ice surrounded by friends and family.

“Like 13 years ago, we had his first birthday skate for him and he said why don’t you wait until I’m 100, and we thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t a joke,” Youngblom told of the year skating with CAC at the Heritage Center several times a week. .

So in a week that would have been Serti’s 100th birthday, his friends and family gathered on Tuesday morning at the Heritage Center for hockey.

“He really wanted to reach 100. Mark never misses a skate, he skated three times a week and he would be here,” Youngblom said.

“100 birthdays, not so many people reach this milestone, and someone who was on the ice a year ago, played hockey with us, came so close and died, was really heartbreaking in many ways, but he had a great life, great friends, a big family. We think this is a great way to show our appreciation for everything he has given us over the years, this is a testament to how well he was liked and respected in the community, ”added Butch Williams, another of Cert friends and hockey men.

“Everyone here just loved Mark and loved his work ethic and loved the man, he’s an amazing man,” Youngblom said.

And even at the age of 100, her friends know that Sertie would have been on the ice trying to get plays to happen.

“He would definitely try to get the most goals here, I know because he was so competitive by nature and I think that’s one of the reasons he lived to be almost 100 years old,” Williams said.

“He would be on the ice and require a passport. He could shuffle the puck, put it in,” Youngblom added.

The Sertie guys plan to put a picture of him in the locker room, and there’s also a special birthday banner that will be hung at the Heritage Center next year.

“There’s a big hole, there’s a hole in the locker room, he sat in the same place, sat right next to me in the locker room and I miss him,” Youngblom said.

“We host a lot of youth hockey tournaments here in Duluth, and all of these young people coming out the doors see that flag of him and recognize him as the word senior hockey player, which inspires a lot of ways for young hockey players,” Williams added.

All continue to reminisce about the hockey legend for even more birthdays.

“He must not be forgotten, that is for sure. We will always remember him, he is always dear to our hearts and a part of our lives,” Williams said.