Fred Mitchell

A service to celebrate his life will be held Friday, December 29, 2023 at 11 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milaca. Interment with full military honors will follow at Borgholm Cemetery.  Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.

Fred was born October 3, 1932 in Dustin, NE to Berlin and Vesta (Porter) Mitchell. He graduated from Stuart High School in 1950. He was drafted into the Army in March 1953. He served in South Korea and was honorably discharged in December 1954. Upon returning home he worked for the State of Nebraska surveying State Highway Rights of Ways based in Columbus, NE where he met the love of his life, Marlene Francis Kruse. They married on January 18, 1959 in Albion, NE. He worked in surveying for a consulting engineering firm in Omaha, NE after their marriage and lived in Omaha and Sioux City, NE for several years before returning home to Stuart, NE and working as a ranch hand in north central Nebraska. In 1969, he moved his family of six to a farm southeast of Hillman, MN and later to a dairy farm north of Bock, MN in 1975, where they lived until 2019 when they moved to Milaca, MN.

In addition to farming in the Hillman area, he worked building pole barns in the area and as a truck driver in the Twin Cities before moving to Bock. And, later, at Gorecki Manufacturing in Milaca after retiring from dairy farming in the mid 1980s. After leaving Gorecki, he could often be found helping sons Jeff and Jim side houses.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting, gardening and inspiring his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy the same. He could often be found tending a garden, enjoying a family fishing or hunting event, or watching his grandchildren in sporting activities. There are countless stories from grandchildren and great-grandchildren about hunting and fishing adventures or gardening lessons that grandpa/papa influenced in some way or another. His greatest joys were hearing about the big buck; monster fish; special pumpkin; or other great adventures that they had been on.

Fred is survived by his son, David (Deb) of Tupelo, MS; daughter, Beverly Mitchell (Gary Vrieze) of Ogilvie, MN; son, Jeffrey (Jenny) Mitchell of Milaca, MN; ten adoring grandchildren and fourteen cherished great-grandchildren; sister, Vesta Mae Haney of Gillette, WY; brother, Warren (Evelyn) Mitchell of Chadron, NE; brother, Marvin Mitchell of Reno, NV; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Marlene (Kruse) Mitchell; son, James Mitchell; parents, Berlin and Vesta (Porter) Mitchell; sister, Lucille Peter; brother-in-law, Louis Peter; brother-in-law, Lyle Haney; sister-in-law, Mary Lou (Kitto) Mitchell; sister-in-law, Lila (Carrington Young) Mitchell; one granddaughter and numerous aunts and uncles.