Adam Chul Bigalk — Lake City

Adam Chul Bigalk, 32, died at his home in Lake City on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, at Greenfield Lutheran Church in Harmony. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the memorial service.

Born in Seoul, Korea, on Oct. 16, 1982, Adam was adopted into the Bruce and Alice Bigalk family at three months of age. Raised on the family farm, Adam grew to love nature early. Fishing, hunting, football and wrestling filled his school-age days. After graduating from Fillmore Central High School in 2001, Adam joined the U.S. Navy where he served six years. He was assigned to the USS Alaska, a ballistic missile submarine as a nuclear plant operator. Returning to Minnesota after completing his time in the Navy, Adam attended Mankato State University where he graduated with honors with a degree in ecology. Seeking to work in the great outdoors, opportunity called him to work with the US Forestry Service, the US Department of Agriculture, and the National Park Service as a Wildfire Hotshot firefighting for three years across the nation. He briefly worked with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Fisheries in Illinois. Recently, Adam returned to Minnesota where he was employed at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant near Red Wing.

Adam is survived by his mother, Alice Bigalk and stepfather, Jerry Passe of Harmony and La Crosse, Wis.; sisters, Kate Bigalk, La Crosse, Wis., and Molly (Tony) Cerniglia, Holmen, Wis.; nieces, Isabella and Sofia Cerniglia; and many relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his father, Bruce Raymond Bigalk.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Kaitlin's Table - Adolescents Mental Illnesses, Gundersen Medical Foundation.