Neal Douglas Fjelstad

Neal D. Fjelstad, age 50, of Litchfield died at his home in his wife's arms on Friday, November 25, 2016, after a courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 2, 2016, at the Litchfield, United Methodist Church. Visitation will be two hours prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in the Lake Ripley Cemetery Neal came from a really loving and close family of his parents ... Sylvester (Sid) and Merna Fjelstad and his 2 brothers Mike and Brian Fjelstad. Neal lived in several places starting from Richfield where he grew up with his brothers and cousins. His first job was doing the paper route. Then as he got older and experienced with several other jobs, he slowly moved towards Darwin, Mn where he worked at Riebe's Sod and met his wife, Shelly Fjelstad. The 1 thing that caught her attention and started the spark between them was when they were working on a job together with dirt on a retaining wall and it started to rain. Neal did not have much to his name but that day he just happened to have an extra pair of boots that he offered her since it was cold out and her tennis shoes got all wet. Neal was that kind of guy that would go out of his way to help anyone in need ifhe could. Later that year when Shelly took him and his friends to watch the NASCAR 500 lap race, he purposed to her outside of the time share they stayed at in Orlando, Florida. Then got married Aprill7, 2004. They bought a home in Litchfield, Mn., where they settled down and added on to his family with joining the United Methodist Church and having all of our neighbors and friends be a part of his life in many ways. Neal Fjelstad was a very friendly guy. He enjoyed being involved in a party of anything including but not limited to hunting, fishing, big game feed, family gatherings, golfing, snowmobiling, playing darts, watching NASCAR, Vikings, Twins, biking ... you name it. He loved kids especially his niece Aleah and his nephew Tyler and the Case kids ... Alexa, Kimberlyn and his God child Colten. He also loved his 2 cats ... Patches and Cuddles and his dog ... Buddy. He and his wife did flea marketing in addition to him working at Bobcat as a class A welder for 8 years until they closed out then they purchased the Riebe Sod Company property in Darwin April 2013 and changed the business name to Creative Landscaping. Because of Neal buying more stuff like a huge chain saw, freight liner and so forth along with all the supporting customers caused the company to expand and grow in its landscaping services. In addition it was because of Neal's eagerness to learn and achieving personality that he got his CDL and helped his wife do the same. He and his wife were partners and independent owners of Creative Landscaping. Neal was always making friends where ever he went. Some of his closest guy friends were Mike Lee, Bob Tanner, Steve Case and Wally Osterholt. Neal enjoyed all the times that he spent with those guys. They were his friends for life. One of the many memories that he had created and made a big impact on was that Pastor Bill Kerr and his wife, Shelly, spent 3 years trying to get him to go to the Boundary waters with them for the week and in 2014 he finally went. He made so many friends and had such a blast...everyone talked about it the whole rest of the year. Another memory was when he put on his Easter Egg Hunts at Lake Ripley for the 10 years, he had the kids chasing him all the time after the prizes. Sometimes it was hard to decipher who was the kid and who was the adult. He also had so much fun with his family and other friends when they went golfing. Most of the time he did not care what the score was because he was more concerned about making it fun for everyone. Then he would do some things that were pretty special even if he did not want to do it like sit in the Walmart line on black Friday for 2 hours just to get a lap top for his step son ... Ben Holmgren for Christmas or help his wife or someone else out with work or whatever they needed if he was able. Neal was my friend and partner with helping me build everything we had these last 13 years. Our friendships, extended family, our home, our business and our memories. It is going to be pretty lonely around here without him but he is with our Lord now in a better place awaiting for us to come and be with him someday. God bless you my love and I thank God for granting us the time that we had together. Previous Events Visitation Friday, December 2, 2016 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM United Methodist Church 1000 South Sibley Litchfield, MN 55355 Visitation Friday, December 2, 2016 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM United Methodist Church 1000 South Sibley Litchfield, MN 55355 Visitation Friday, December 2, 2016 11:45 AM Riplely Cemetery 316 Sibley Avenue South Litchfield, MN 55355