Longtime Rosemount businessman Clifford Carlson dies

• Photo: Carlsons

Clifford and Lucy Carlson are pictured with granddaughter Selena Carlson, the last of their grandchildren to graduate from RHS, in 2010.

Talk about it

Clifford Carlson, who graduated from Rosemount High School with a class of 16 students in 1939 and went on to found Carlson Tractor in 1953, died Tuesday at the age of 92. He was the last living member of his graduating class.

“It just goes to show you can’t kill a dumb Swede,” he told the Town Pages two years ago.

Carlson grew up about seven miles from RHS in Eagan, and he never strayed far. He worked for a time at a packing plant in South St. Paul and at the Gopher Ordnance Works both during construction and after it stopped operating. All four of his children graduated from RHS, and 10 of his 11 grandchildren, the most recent two years ago.

Carlson started Carlson Tractor and Equipment in 1953 in Hastings and moved the business to Rosemount in 1956. He added a second location in Rogers in 2000. The business stayed in the Carlson family until 2011, when Rich and Ron Carlson sold the business to Titan Machinery.

Tags: news, rosemount, community