Donald J. Sederstrom

Donald J. Sederstrom, 85, passed away the evening of April 5, 2014, while reading in the solitude of his backyard workshop at the family home in Tower, Minnesota. Though retired, Don was proud to still be employed by the U.S. Postal Service two days a week delivering mail around the east end of Lake Vermilion and had completed the Saturday route just a few hours before his death. His love of productive work and staying busy despite his advancing years was mirrored by his kindness and compassion as he maintained countless relationships with people he had met across Minnesota during his adult life. Don was born in Litchfield, Minnesota on September 20, 1928, and grew up on the family farm, the youngest of five children born to Joseph and Elsie Sederstrom. After high school, he was among the first University of Minnesota students to combine studies in agriculture and business, and his love of agri-business would become one of the passions of his life. Don represented Minnesota in the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) program in 1950 in Sweden before returning to take over the family farm at Beckville, southwest of Litchfield. While at the ""U"" he met the love of his life, Marion Saari, and they married on December 30, 1950. Their three children, Noel, Beth and Leigh, all spent their early years in the same one-room red brick country schoolhouse their father attended, and later graduated from Litchfield Public Schools where their mother was a home economics teacher. Don began a farm fertilizer supply business at the home farm in the '50s and then in 1959 established a small office on East Highway 12 in Litchfield as Sederstrom Fertilizer and Farm Supply. The business expanded with a host of products and farm services over the next two decades, from sales of feed and fertilizer to the custom application of anhydrous ammonia on farm fields. During that time, Don helped advise state lawmakers on fertilizer and pesticide issues, helped form the Minnesota Certified Applicators Association and served as its president, served on the board of Ag-Chem, Inc., and as a Soil Conservation District Supervisor in Meeker County. After selling the business to Cargill in 1983, Don worked as a field service representative for Continental and later Stroud and John Deere crop insurance companies working with farmers in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Over the years he was also active in and helped lead the Meeker County Farm Bureau, the Litchfield Male Chorus and the Litchfield Golf Club. Don's support of IFYE's ""Peace Through Understanding"" approach led to the family hosting eight foreign exchange students in the '60s and two high school students from Colombia and Sweden in the '70s, and he and Marion were in the first delegation of Americans to go inside the People's Republic of China on a Friendship Tour in 1979 following the normalization of relations. Don served in various roles over seven decades at Beckville Lutheran Church, and after he and Marion moved north to Tower-Soudan in 2007 for their retirement years, was a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Soudan. People in Tower may remember him for helping maintain the park along the East Two River on the east side of town, and helping renovate the historic Railroad Depot site by painting. His family will remember his tireless efforts to maintain the Saari Family Island cabin and sauna on Lake Vermilion. Don is survived by his wife, Marion; two sisters, Marion Mansveld of Eugene, Oregon, and June (Mead) Cavert of St. Paul; son Noel (Cindy) of Rochester, Minnesota, daughters Beth Malmgren of Minneapolis and Leigh (Tim) Lillquist of Tower; four grandchildren, Chris Sederstrom of Brooklyn, New York, Nickie (Jason) Whitney of Portage, Michigan, Donald (Katie) Quinn III of Edina, and Maggie Quinn of San Diego, California; and two great-grandchildren, Alex and Andrew Whitney. A celebration of Don's life will be held Friday, April 11 at 2 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tower with Pastor Berhanu Alengo and Dr. Mark Hilmer leading the service. Visitation will be one hour before the service. A Service of Praise and Thanksgiving for Don's life will be held on Saturday, April 12 at 2 p.m. at Beckville Lutheran Church in rural Litchfield with Pastor Maggie Cummings officiating. Visitation will be one hour before the service. Interment will follow the service at the Beckville Lutheran Church cemetery. Previous Events Visitation Saturday, April 12, 2014 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Beckville Lutheran Church 20521 600th Avenue Litchfield, MN 55355 Visitation Saturday, April 12, 2014 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM Beckville Lutheran Church 20521 600th Avenue Litchfield, MN 55355 Visitation Saturday, April 12, 2014 2:45 PM Beckville Lutheran Cemetery Beckville, MN