Our Staff

Linda has been a funeral director at our Melrose funeral home since 2000. She was previously employed as a licensed funeral director with Benson Funeral Home in St. Cloud, Minnesota and Brenny Funeral Homes of Albany and Holdingford, Minnesota. She is a 1998 graduate of the University of Minnesota (B.S. Mortuary Science).

On December 11, 2019, she became the new owner of the funeral homes with the support of her husband, Brad.

Linda was raised in Sauk Centre. She and her husband, Brad, reside in Albany, with their two sons, Brandon and Kyle.

Mark joined our staff as a funeral director in October of 2007, after working at funeral homes in Minneapolis for eight years, most recently at Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels. He graduated from Bemidji State University (B.S. Biology, Chemistry) and in 1999 from the University of Minnesota (B.S. in Mortuary Science). Mark grew up in northern Minnesota and enjoys fishing, hunting, and most other outdoor activities.

He and his wife, Sara, and their two daughters, Nora and Hazel, reside in Sauk Centre.

Kelly joined our staff in January 2023 as our Office Manager.  She has worked in many different industries (malpractice insurance, financial banking, and manufacturing) throughout her career in IT and Office Management.  

She enjoys working with the Patton-Schad team providing support to families who recently have experienced the death of a loved one. 

Kelly grew up on a dairy farm north of Melrose and is the youngest of five children.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Sara works as an independent prearrangement specialist working with community members to prearrange and prefund their funeral arrangements.

She grew up in central Minnesota. She is a 2002 graduate of the University of Minnesota (B.S. Mortuary Science) and then worked at Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels in Minneapolis.

She and her husband, Mark, and their two daughters, Nora and Hazel, reside in Sauk Centre.

Linda Sue joined our staff in 2019 as our grief specialist and started working as our receptionist in 2020. She retired from being receptionist in July of 2022 but continues her work as grief specialist with us. 

She has been a grief counselor for over 17 years working as a Bereavement Coordinator for Heartland Hospice. She facilitates grief support groups in Annandale, Foley, Brainerd and the St. Cloud areas. Linda is a 2004 graduate of St Cloud state with a licensed social worker degree and a minor in Gerontology.

She grew up on a dairy farm in the Kimball/South Haven area and is the oldest of ten children. Linda and her family have lived in the Albany area for over 35 years. She is not a stranger to the raw brokenness of losing someone you love to death.  

Rollie joined our staff as a funeral assistant in 2004, after working at the Brenny Funeral Homes in Albany and Holdingford for many years. He enjoys being a school bus driver.

He resides in Albany with his wife, Tillie.

Ralph has been a funeral assistant with us since 2014. He is retired from farming but is still active in the agricultural business.

He resides in Melrose with his wife, Linda.

Dan joined our staff as a funeral assistant in 2018. Dan and his wife, Char live near Meire Grove. They have three married children and six grandchildren.

Jerry joined us in 1995 as a funeral assistant. He is retired after many years at Sauk Centre High School, mostly as principal.

He resides near Sauk Centre with his wife, Renee.

George has been a funeral assistant with us since 1997. He is retired from farming and previously served on the board of directors for Stearns Electric Cooperative.

He resides near Sauk Centre with his wife, Delores.

Pat and Sue are looking forward to many years of retirement, watching Golden Gophers football, and spending time with their grandchildren and their parents.

They grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota. Pat graduated in 1978 from the University of Minnesota (B.S. Mortuary Science) and then served his internship with the Range Funeral Home in Virginia, Minnesota. During the next few years, he was a staff funeral director with Albin Funeral Chapel in Minneapolis while Sue was an underwriter for Home Insurance in Edina. They were invited to Melrose, Minnesota to meet with Bernie and Mary Schad, who needed a manager for their new funeral home in Sauk Centre. They moved to Sauk Centre and Pat began working for Schad Funeral Homes. Bernie was a great teacher in the profession but also a great example of how to become involved in the community. In 1993 Bernie and Mary transferred ownership of their funeral homes to the Pattons.

They have two sons, Nathan and Adam. Nathan is married to Heather and they have a son, Ethan and a daughter, Emilie. Adam is married to Becky and they have a son, Osian “Ozzie” and a daughter, Rooney.

Jonathan Scott Coltvet, age 41 of Sauk Centre, died Thursday, June 7, 2007 at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, following an extensive open heart surgery.

Jon moved to Sauk Centre in September of 1988 to start his career as a funeral director with Schad Funeral Homes. Jon had the great pleasure of serving his whole career under the guidance of Bernie Schad and Pat Patton of Patton-Schad Funeral & Cremation Services, most recently as the manager of the Melrose funeral home.

Jon will be greatly missed by his wife, Sarah and son, Alex of Sauk Centre; parents, Sherman and Rachel Coltvet of Rochester; siblings, Elizabeth McGeeney (Jim) and niece, Anna of Rochester, Tim Coltvet (Maren) and niece, Linnea, and nephew, Anders of Plymouth, and Stephanie Coltvet of Minneapolis. He is also survived by his mother-in-law, Nina Anderson of Blackduck; brothers-in-law, Steven Anderson (Kelly Fries) and nephews, Lukas and Reilly of St. Francis, Philip Anderson of Brownsville, Texas, Joseph Anderson (Julie Muller) and niece, Adrienne, and nephew, Max of Roseau; sister-in-law, Mary Anderson (Craig Cameron) and nephew, Elliot, and niece, Clara of Tenstrike; numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Bernard J. "Bernie" Schad, age 80 of Melrose, died unexpectedly following a massive heart attack Monday, December 5, 2011 at the Melrose Area Hospital in Melrose, Minnesota.

In 1966 Bernie and Mary moved to Melrose and he began serving the community and surrounding areas as their funeral director. He later expanded Schad Funeral Homes to include the funeral homes in Grey Eagle, Sauk Centre, and Freeport. In 1993 the funeral homes were sold to Pat and Sue Patton of Sauk Centre and Bernie continued to work until his retirement from full-time funeral directing in 1995. Over the past 16 years he had continued to work at the funeral home whenever he was needed, which included participating in the Annual Service of Remembrance held just the day before his death.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Schad of Melrose; four children, Julie (Mel) Schaefer of Melrose, Joe (Angela) Schad of Maple Grove, Mike (Kerry) Schad of West Yellowstone, Montana, and Patrick (Teresa) Schad of Melrose; ten grandchildren, Ben (Lane) Schaefer of Sauk Centre, Jillian (J.J.) Megge of South Lyon, Michigan, Jon (Jessica) Schaefer of St. Cloud, Joey (friend, Jenna Burns) Schaefer of St. Cloud, Tucker Landis of Minneapolis, Samantha Schad of Maple Grove, Mandy Lakso of Superior, Wisconsin, Kanika Lakso of West Yellowstone, Montana, Gracie and Logan Schad of Melrose; two great-grandsons, Jordan Schaefer and Tyson Lakso; six brothers and sisters, Mike (Marge) Schad of Grove City, Ohio, Jeanine Ryan of Rochester, Virginia (Dave) Carlson of St. Michael, Suzanne (Jim) Smith of Salt Lake City, Utah, Tom Schad of Burnsville, Loretta (John Hendrickson) Gosse of Bloomington.