Dale F. Stoltenberg, age 89, of Garretson, SD, passed away at the Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls, SD on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at Palisades Lutheran Church, Garretson, Rock County, MN with Pastor Mark Eliason officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Palisades Lutheran Cemetery.
Visitation with family present will be from 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the Minnehaha Funeral Home in Garretson, SD.
In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred and will be directed to Palisades Lutheran Church and the American Cancer Society.
Dale was born November 27, 1933, to Fred and Alma (Mundt) Stoltenberg, in Lyon County, IA. He spent his early years on a farm northeast of Alvord, IA, where he rode his Shetland pony named “Billy” for 1 ¼ miles to attend country school. In 1942, his family moved to a farm near Hills in Rock County, MN. He attended one more year of rural school before consolidation moved his education to town where he finished grade school and graduated from Hills, MN high school in 1951. After high school, Dale helped his father on the farm and worked at a service station in Hills.
On July 26, 1956, Dale married Marianne Thompson in Hills, MN. One month later Dale left for the service and served 2 years in the US Army, being stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky and Ft. Bliss, Texas. In 1958 with his wife and son, Ron, he returned to Hills, MN where he worked at the Skelly Service Station. With addition of a second son, Curt, in 1959, he and his now family of 4 moved to a farm 3 miles southeast of Garretson where they crop farmed and raised dairy and beef cattle along with pigs and chickens. They were also blessed with 2 more children, Cindy (1962) and Melanie (1966), completing the perfect farm family. In the early 90s, Dale transitioned from dairy farming to raising long-horn cattle. After Marianne passed in 1993, Dale continued to live on the farm until 2013 when he moved into Garretson.
Dale will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, hardworking farmer, honest man, golfer, and fisherman.
Dale was a member of Palisade Lutheran Church, rural Garretson where he was active on the church council in various positions.
Dale is survived by his children Ron (Diane) Stoltenberg, Jackson, MN; Curt (Kari) Stoltenberg; Garretson, SD; Cynthia (Brad) Jurgensen, Garretson, SD; Melanie Hamelton, Greenville, SC; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; brother-in-law Harlowe Sundem; sisters-in-law Marcie Stoltenberg and Florence Stoltenberg, and many other extended family and friends.
Dale was preceded in death by his loving wife Marianne, his parents Fritz (Fred) and Alma Stoltenberg; Son-in-law Bruce Hamelton; brothers Daryl, Delbert, Delmar and Dean, sister LaVane Sundem, and sister-in-law Georgine Stoltenberg.
Blessed be the memory of Dale Fred Stoltenberg.
