Obituaries

Richard Seward Johnson was born on February 3, 1942, in Tracy, Minnesota to Seward and Myrtle Haugen Johnson. Richard grew up on farms near Tracy, Clarkfield, and Slayton, MN. He graduated from Slayton High School in 1959. On September 21, 1968, he and Karen Lopau were married at the Peace United Methodist Church in Pipestone, MN. Following their marriage, they made their home on a farm near Avoca, MN later moving to a farm near Currie, MN and in 1989 they moved to Slayton. Richard had various jobs throughout his life. He worked for the Slayton Telephone Co., was a milkman for Oak Grove, worked at the Slayton Elevator and was a feed man for Jim Daniels. He then decided to go into business for himself owning and operating Johnson Garbage and Rubbish and later Johnson Tree Service. Karen passed away on October 6, 2021. Richard passed away on November 5, 2022, at the Murray County Medical Center in Slayton at the age of 80. He was a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Slayton. Richard enjoyed driving around, visiting with people, coffee time, and shaking dice.

Dave Steffl (58) of Chandler, MN, died unexpectedly on Saturday, November 5, 2022, in Minnesota with family by his side. He was born October 2,1964, in Redwood County, Minnesota, the son of David and Mary Ann (Siefert) Steffl. He resided in Chandler, Minnesota. He married Mona Lewis on August 19, 1984, (Divorced) and two children were born to this union – Joseph Steffl and David Steffl. He married Deborah Brunson on October 19,1991, and two children were born to this union – Joshua Steffl and Racheal Steffl (Ossefoort). David loved hunting, especially deer hunting with his brothers, his sons, and nephews. He passed on opening day, surrounded by family, doing what he loved. He loved all Minnesota sports teams and loved spending time with his family. He was a very loving and caring person and would be the first to help when someone was in need.

Lynn “Papa” Behr, the youngest son of Fred and Martha (Gehl) Behr, was born on November 11, 1930 in Heron Lake, MN. He grew up on the farm and attended school until the 8th grade in Fulda. Lynn was drafted into the U.S. Army in March of 1952 and went to basic training at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas and then to Engineer School in Columbus, NE. He spent the rest of his service based at Ft. Belvoiu Va. On October 4, 1953, Lynn married his soulmate, his longtime business partner, and more than anything, the true love of his life, Alta Redenius. Following his discharge from the Army in March of 1954, they made their home on the family farm in Belfast Township just east of Fulda. It is the farm Lynn would remain on his entire life. He began farming with his brother, Vernon, then his son Marlowe and most recently his son-in-law, Dave and 3 of his grandsons. Lynn would often tell people “If you’re done farming before Thanksgiving, you don’t farm enough”. It was on the family farm that Lynn and Alta would start their business, Behr Enterprises. Lynn strived to provide the best grain handling, storage and conditioning products and services to local farmers and elevators. His work ethic and business ethics were never brought into question as he strived to be fair and honest as possible.

Gary Brinks was born on July 16, 1947, near Sheldon, IA to Gerrit & Henrietta Brinks. He was baptized and professed his faith in the Reformed Church. As the oldest of 5 children, he spent his early years on his parent’s dairy farm helping with farm activities. He graduated from Balaton High school in 1965 and attended the University of Minnesota Morris, St. Paul and later graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University. Gary was united in marriage to Helen Anderson on June 14, 1969, at the Methodist Church in Lake Wilson. Gary enlisted in the US Air Force and went to Basic Training at Lackland AFB in Texas. After Basic, Gary was sent to Lowry AFB near Denver, CO and Castle AFB near Merced, CA to train as an ordinance mechanic on B-52 Bombers and later F-4 Phantom fighters.

Dianne Kuecker, wife of Dr. Ron Kuecker, Windom, MN, passed away peacefully on October 17, 2022, at Heritage Pointe in Marshall, MN. Ron, Dan, and other family members had been with her for the past week. Scott and Julie were at her bedside when she quietly breathed her last.

A Celebration of Life Service for Dianne Kuecker, age 79, of Windom, will be held at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday, November 12th at the American Lutheran Church in Windom, with Pastor Sarah Larsen Tade` officiating. Burial will be at Lakeview Cemetery

Mary Zetta Pyle, born December 5, 1946, passed away unexpectedly October 6, 2022 in her home in Rosemount, MN at age 75. She was the daughter of Orville and Zetta (Nord) Pyle.

Sheldon Lee Dean, age 76, of Pipestone, Minnesota passed away on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone. Sheldon Lee Dean was born to Floyd and Marjeret (Eekhoff) Dean on June 1, 1946 in Willmar, Minnesota.

Darrold E. Peck, age 83 of Garvin, passed away Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at St. John’s Lutheran Home in Springfield, Minnesota. Darrold E. Peck was born October 10, 1938 to Edward and Margaret (Klein) Peck in Springdale Township, Redwood County, Minnesota. Darrold grew up on a farm south of Garvin; attended Tracy High School, and graduated from the Springfield High School after his family moved to Springfield. He was in the Tracy National Guard until his car accident in 1960. Darrold started his working life as a butcher in the Nelson Locker Plant in Springfield; he then worked as the meat cutter at the Eibner Restaurant in New Ulm. On August 20, 1960, he was on his way back to New Ulm from a date with his girlfriend, Berneida Wendland, when he was involved in a head-on auto collision which resulted in a broken jaw and hip. After recuperating, he went back to work as a Fuller Brush salesman and then a grave monument salesman for Bloedel Monuments of New Ulm. On March 10, 1962, Darrold and Berneida were married in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Springfield. While living there, Darrold went to Granite Falls Technical College for 2 years of bookkeeping after which he went to work in bookkeeping in Vigorena Feeds in Springfield. In 1967 they were blessed with a daughter, Kelijo Roxanne, and in 1968 a son, Darren Henry. In 1969, they moved to Northfield and Darrold went to work for GT Schjeldahl Company in accounting. In 1973, his boss moved and took a job in Worthington at Bedford Industries. He called Darrold and asked him to apply for an office position in that company. The couple then moved to Worthington where Darrold was employed with Bedford in many office positions and retired in 2003 as their Purchasing Agent. In 2001, Darrold and Berneida moved to their retirement home in Lake Shetek – a few miles south of Garvin. On August 29, 2016, Darrold moved into St. John’s Riverhaven in Springfield with dementia and in 2017 to the nursing home 2nd floor. This completed his Circle of Life.

Gary John Oslund, 75, of Anaheim Ca passed away on September 25, 2022 following a battle with ALS. Gary was born in Tyler, MN to Gordon and Edith (Stoneberg) Oslund on November 9, 1946 and raised on the family farm in Chandler, MN.