Eugene Sit, 69, Edina MN - 01 July 08

We have been invited by the family of Eugene Sit, founder of the Minnesotan's Military Appreciation Fund, to attend his funeral services. This is a special mission; although Gene was not a Veteran, he was committed to serving and supporting them in an extraordinarily dedicated manner. Many who have benefited from his actions consider him a true American hero and Patriot, and we considered him family in the PGR as he has been a member since 2007.

 

Gene's family fled Communist China in 1947; they arrived in the United States penniless. As an immigrant, he took the American dream to heart. Through tireless hard work, he became a very successful businessman in the finance industry. To support the men and women of our military who defend our country, Gene and his wife Gail started the Minnesotans' Military Appreciation Fund - an organization unique to Minnesota that gives grants to all Minnesotans who've served honorably in combat zones since Sept. 11, 2001, as well as grants for the families of those wounded or killed.

 

The MMAF has raised over $7 million dollars for those who serve; well over $1 million came from Gene himself. The organization has helped countless people. More information on the MMAF can be found at www.thankmntroops.org.

 

Eugene Sit died on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 after a four-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 01 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina.

 

We will not be attending the visitation due to very limited parking and an expected large crowd of international visitors

 

Ride Captain: Doug Bley - NW Metro Ride Captain

 

Mission Information

Christ Presbyterian Church

6901 Normandale Rd

Minneapolis, MN 55435

www.cpconline.org

 

Directions:

Highway 100 between I-494 and I-394

Take the 70^th Ave Exit

Turn East and stay on 70^th Ave for a very short distance

Turn left into the church parking lot off of 70^th Ave.

Bikes park in the small parking lot to the right just as you enter

Vehicles please park in an out-of-the-way spot in the regular parking lot

 

Staging Opens: 9:30AM

Briefing: 9:50AM

Set Flag Line: 10:00AM

Service Begins: 11:00AM

Stand Down

Service End: 12:00PM approx

Mission is complete as the family vehicles leave

 

We will not be attending the private ceremony for interment

 

Other Items:

Please be sure to have your 3x5 US flag on a pole

Weather is expected to be in the 80's

-          Please be sure to have a kick stand plate

-          Please bring water and be self sufficient

 

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Obituary of Gene Sit: A Lifetime of Achievement.

Successful money manager, community leader, and philanthropist will be missed.

June 2008 | by Katie Harholdt

Twin Cities Business

MSP Communications, 220 South 6th Street, Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55402

 

 

Eugene Sit, born in China in 1938, came to the United States to pursue his education and career, and became one of Minnesota's most successful investment managers, and a philanthropist known for his many charitable commitments. He died on Tuesday at the age of 69 of pancreatic cancer.

 

Sit made the journey to the United States in 1948 with his father and brother and no money. He didn't speak English when he got here, but his determination, a theme woven throughout his life, helped him to finish 12 years of school in only eight. He won a scholarship to DePaul University and graduated in 1960 with an accounting degree.

 

His career began at Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, where he made earnings forecasts, which helped to establish the company as a leading money management firm.

 

Sit married his wife of 50 years, Gail, while still in Chicago, where four of their six children were born. But in 1968, IDS (Investors Diversified Services) recruited him to shake up its investment business, and he and his family headed north, settling in Edina.

 

After managing portfolios at IDS for several years, Sit was named president and chief equity investment officer of IDS Advisory Group in 1976. He was an early investor in Asian Pacific stocks and built the institutional money-management division from $500 million to $3 billion by 1981. It was then that he decided to start Sit Investment Associates with $1 million of his own money. He wanted "to go out and find the next Intel or Wal-Mart," he said in February 2007.

 

His instincts served him well. During the next 20 years, Sit added the Sit Fixed-Income division (1984), an international investments division (1989), a small-capitalization domestic-equity product (1994), and a dividend growth product to the two original mutual funds that his firm started out with.

 

Now, Sit Investment Associates has 75 employees, five of which are his children, and more than $7 billion under management.

 

Sit was inducted into the 2008 Minnesota Business Hall of Fame.

 

While Sit's career is remarkable, so too is his commitment to giving back. He served on the boards of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The University of Minnesota Carlson School's International Visitors, and the Minnesota Historical Society Honorary Council. He was a director of Corning, Inc., and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation.

 

Besides serving many other nonprofits and community organizations, Sit co-founded the Minnesotans' Military Appreciation Fund (MMAF) in 2005 to give cash grants to all Minnesotans who have served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001, and to the families of those killed in action.

 

"In a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way, he wanted to say thanks to the Minnesota military personnel and their families who are making enormous sacrifices in the current wars," said Burt Cohen, founding publisher of MSP Communications and a member of the MMAF board, in April 2008. The fund has made grants to more than 6,000 Minnesotans so far.

 

Sit is survived by his wife, six children, and 11 grandchildren.

 

The family asks that donations be made to MMAF at thankmntroops.org.

 

Katie Harholdt is associate editor for Twin Cities Business.

 

--
Doug Bley
NW Metro Ride Captain
Member, Exec Board of Directors
Minnesota Patriot Guard
In honor of all the military members we ride for...