Dale A. Meldahl, 61, died Saturday, July 28, 2018 at Methodist Hospital. The funeral service will be at 11:00 am on Thursday, August 2, 2018, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stewartville, MN. The visitation will be from 4:00 – 7:00 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2018, and hour prior to the service at the church. Inurnment will be at 10:00 am on Friday, August 3, 2018, in Hamilton Cemetery in rural Racine. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the family.
Dale Alvin Meldahl was born on April 3, 1957 in Lanesboro, MN, 25 minutes before his twin brother, Dean, to Alvin and Lorraine (Johnson) Meldahl. He grew up on the family farm in Peterson, MN. He graduated from Rushford High School in 1975. Dale worked on the family farm with his parents and siblings. In March of 1977, he married Marilyn Lingbeck and they had two children, Corey and Nichole. They later divorced. He worked at McNeilus Steel as a welder, AB Systems as a construction foreman. On August 7, 1999, Dale married Joyce Sorensen at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stewartville. They lived in Stewartville until moving to Racine in 2006, where they made their home. He started Dale Meldahl Construction in 2004. He has built many buildings including pole sheds, farm buildings, hog barns, decks and countless small side projects. Dale never considered his work to be work and thought of it more of a hobby as it was one of his passions. His home renovation has been one of his favorites, by remodeling, adding to and creating the best home for him, his wife and six cats. They enjoyed traveling including Duluth, South Dakota, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas celebrating his 50th birthday. They frequented Florida which included a trip to Disney World when the kids were younger, and the Florida Keys. They also went on a cruise to Hawaii visiting all of the islands. Their most recent destination was to the Cayman Islands in 2017.Dale liked camping and hunting. His favorite spot was hunting in the bluffs of Rushford for deer and even racoon. Dale lived by the motto of work hard and play harder. To say he was very social and outgoing was an understatement. He never passed up a chance to meet with family and friends for a drink or conversation. You could find him many nights and weekends at the bowling alley as he was on many bowling leagues over the years. He loved to follow the MN Twins and Vikings. Dale was a member of the Racine Lions, Sons of the American Legion and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stewartville.
Dale is survived by his wife, Joyce of Racine; children, Corey Meldahl of Orlando, FL, Nichole (Toby) Scolet of Cape Coral, FL, Derik Sorensen of Stewartville and Tyler (Chelsea VanTassel) Sorensen of Racine; grandchildren, Logan, Colin, Ayden, Taylee and Aleyah; siblings, Barb Wolfe of Marysville, OH, Cheri (Rusty) Korte of Manheim, PA, Scott Meldahl of Stewartville, Lori (Jeff) Colwill of Rochester and Brian (Dawn) Meldahl of Brownsdale; sister-in-law, Glori (Jim) Keehn of Wabasha; brother-in-law, Brad (Jannell) Tufte of Geneva; father-in-law, Cliff (Clare) Tufte of Geneva; mother-in-law, Verona Winegar of Geneva; and very special nieces and nephews.
Dale was preceded in death by his parents, Alvin and Lorraine; brother, Dean; niece, Tricia Lund; brother-in-law, Dave Wolfe.
Dale wanted to show his family especially his children, his hard work and kindness towards others. It was shown through his everyday life even through his last days. The family wants to extend a special thank you to everyone over the last few months of the Dale’s strong and courageous battle with stomach cancer.
Arrangements are with Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes, 5421 Royal Place, NW Rochester MN 55901. www.ranfranzandvinefh.com