George Middendorf

George R. Middendorf, age 93 of Sauk Centre, died peacefully October 28, 2019 with his family at his side.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 2, 2019 at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Tim Wenzel and Rev. Rick Aubol concelebrating.  Interment will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre.  A prayer service will be held at 6 p.m. during the Friday evening visitation.  Visitation will continue 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday morning at the Saint Paul’s Catholic Church Gathering Area.

George Richard Middendorf was born October 15, 1926, the son of Joseph and Veronica (Toenyan) Middendorf in rural Freeport, Minnesota.  George attended Catholic parochial school in Freeport Grades 1-6 living with his grandparents in Freeport.  He finished 7th & 8th grade in Sauk Centre. Following his education, he worked on the Middendorf farm, saving money to buy a farm.

In 1948, he purchased a 120-acre farm northeast of Sauk Centre.  On October 26, 1948, he was united in marriage to Marilynn Jean Kane at Saint Alexius Catholic Church in West Union, Minnesota.  Together, they worked the farm George had purchased and raised their family of five children.  When George started farming the land, he was farming with a team of horses, later getting tractors to help do the work, milking dairy cows, raising hogs and many other animals.

Besides working as a farmer, George sold seed corn.   He was a salesman for nearly 50 years—selling seed corn to close friends and family members until he was in his late 80’s.  In 1980, George and Marilynn retired and moved to Sauk Centre.  In his retirement years, he was just as busy as when he was a farmer -- he still helped on the farm, restored old campers and many Farmall tractors which included painting them to look brand new, and did many handy man projects.  He could be counted on to fix any plumbing issue as well as install furnaces for family and friends.  It appeared there was nothing George could not do!

George truly enjoyed hunting and fishing and loved to drive around the countryside “checking out the fields” of his family members and friends.  George assisted Marilynn in taking communion to the shut ins of their church; he was responsible for making sure there was a bulletin for each person they visited.

George was a man with a unique sense of humor and had a quick wit.

George was a member of the Knights of Columbus and Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre.

He will be deeply missed by his wife of 71 years, Marilynn of Sauk Centre; children, Pat (Bob) VonWahlde of Melrose, Jim (Myra) Middendorf of Sartell, Donna (John) Broermann of Sauk Centre, and Georgiann (Marty) Primus of Sauk Centre; daughter-in-law, LaVonne Middendorf of Sauk Centre; 21 grandchildren; 35 great grandchildren; siblings, William Middendorf of Melrose, LeRoy (Adeline) Middendorf of Sauk Centre, Joe (Lou) Middendorf of Sauk Centre, Victor (Florence) Middendorf of Melrose, Margaret Klasen of Sauk Centre, Betty (Ron) Thieschafer of Melrose, and Jerry (Diane) Middendorf of Sauk Centre; sister-in-law, JoAnn Middendorf of Sauk Centre; other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his son, Michael Middendorf in 2018; parents, Joseph and Veronica Middendorf; brothers, Ralph Middendorf and Art Middendorf; sister-in-law, Edna Middendorf and brother-in-law, John Klasen.

Serving as casket bearers will be his grandsons, Michael Middendorf, Jon Middendorf, Matt VonWahlde, Dustin Middendorf, Jason Broermann, Chris Broermann, Shane Broermann, Joshua Primus, and Ben Primus.