Obituary for JMS/.MN - Jim Schreifels

schriffs

Member
James "Jim" Schreifels, 76, of Watkins, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, March 23, 2020 at the St. Cloud Hospital. A memorial Mass will be held at a later date, along with a social gathering like those Jim loved. Arrangements are with the Ertl Funeral Home, Watkins.

Jim was born on January 6, 1944 to George and Agnes (Peters) Schreifels at Belgrade, Minnesota - and despite their plans for his to be the first hospital birth in the family, he came into this world in a Ford Model T at the end of their driveway. As a boy, Jim recalled seeing electricity come to the Belgrade-area farm he grew up on, and he farmed alongside his father there for several years after he graduated from Belgrade High School in 1961.

In 1964, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army, and he earned his Special Forces Green Beret in 1965 after completing Airborne training at Fort Benning, GA and Combat Engineering and Special Forces training at Fort Bragg, NC. He later completed Spanish language training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Jim served much of his time as a Special Forces Combat Engineer in the Panama Canal Zone as a member of the 8th Special Forces Group, with shorter missions to Puerto Rico and other Central American locations. Although his overseas service didn t include time in Vietnam itself, he was particularly proud of his work at the Jungle Warfare School in the Canal Zone, preparing his brothers in arms to survive that warzone. As his discharge date approached in 1967, Jim and a buddy drove a pickup truck over 3,000 miles north from Panama to his official discharge point at Fort Bliss, Texas, selling the vehicle after they arrived.

After his discharge from the Army, Jim enrolled in the University of Minnesota, majoring in Animal Science. In 1968, Jim came home from college to visit his mother in Rockville and met the young woman renting a room there, a teacher from Hibbing, MN named Margi. Two years later, Jim married Margaret Dunne at St Boniface Church in Cold Spring, MN on April 25, 1970. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota in 1971, and Jim and Margi moved to their farm in Watkins in 1972.

Over the next fifty years, Jim and Margi welcomed six children and fourteen grandchildren into the world. Dad provided many lessons to his kids, including "Be quiet when the news is on," "You always have room for ice cream!", have respect for God and country, and there's always a good time for a dad joke. Grandpa was also loved for many reasons, but taking the grandchildren for Ranger rides, being funny, and "always playing with them" were some of their favorite memories. Jim was looking forward to celebrating fifty years of marriage to Margi on April 25, 2020, surrounded by their children and grandchildren in the same place they celebrated their wedding reception five decades earlier - overlooking Pleasant Lake at the 400 Club.

The family fondly remembers him for his love of auctions, old tractors, and hot chocolate. Jim was an avid fabricator who envisioned better things for every piece of equipment or scrap metal he came across. He had an encyclopedic memory of everything he tinkered with and was quick to share advice and knowledge, particularly regarding tractors and farming. Jim s collection of 2-cylinder tractors grew and shrank over the years, but he always had an old Allis-Chalmers tucked away somewhere. Even as it became more difficult for Jim in later years to make it out to his shop, he loved connecting with people across the country through online forums, where he made many friends and helped solve many of their tractor problems.

Jim s pride in serving his country as an Airborne soldier and a Green Beret was visible to anyone he met, in the form of his ever-present black cap with the Airborne and Special Forces insignia. One of his proudest moments was pinning Airborne wings on his youngest daughter in 2010, standing on the same training grounds at Fort Benning where he had earned his own jump wings 45 years earlier. He was a member of the Watkins American Legion Post #453 for many years, and he recently joined the Special Forces Association and became a life member of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Jim s sense of service extended to his community as well. Jim was an active member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Watkins and enjoyed volunteering as a church usher. He cared deeply about the local and national policies that affect us as citizens, and stepped up to participate in conservative causes in a variety of roles over the years, including local caucus chair and delegate to the state convention. Jim spent countless hours in both leadership and recruiting roles for the organizations he gave his time to, always reaching out to convince more people to become involved with groups like the Legion, the Knights of Columbus, and the Forest City Threshers. If he didn t have a raffle ticket to sell you, he made sure to let you know the date of the next fundraising pancake dinner or fish fry. He enjoyed socializing and supporting area churches and other organizations through pancake dinners, festivals, and other fundraisers.

Jim is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Margi Schreifels of Watkins, and their six children and fourteen grandchildren: Catherine Zadra (Curt Blood) of Watkins, and her children Elizabeth, Nicholas, and Alexander; Mark Schreifels of Kimball, and his children Tyler, Jayce, Dustin, and Travis; Joanna Carley (Richard Claypool) of Maple Grove; Kevin (Christy) Schreifels of Long Prairie, and their children Kaitlyn, Steven, and Jacob; Michael (Dayna) Schreifels of Watkins, and their children Payton, Ashlyn, Jordyn, and Rylan; and Jennifer Schreifels (Jonathan Watkins) of Minneapolis. He is also survived by his sisters, Sue (Charles) Buchan of Cave Creek, AZ and Dolores Vornbrock of Orchard Green, MD.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Eugene Schreifels; sister, Ramona Schneider; and infant brother, Joseph Schreifels.
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A kind and amazing man, to be sure.
Again, I am so sorry for the loss your family is going through.

Your Dad sent t-shirts to my husband and me, with a rusty john deere tractor and "in rust we trust" printed on them. I will think of him whenever we wear them.
 
I really enjoyed Jim's posts -- always to the point. Praying for his family. He served God, his country, his family, and his community. Who's going to fill their shoes?
 
i am sorry for your loss,i will be praying for you and your family.he has helped me multiple times,and was always very helpful, i could tell
from the way he wrote,that he enjoyed tractors,and knew a alot about them.thank you for posting.

Rock
 
Dang,I'm so sorry to hear that. He and Margi stopped in to see the wife and me here in Michigan about three years ago. I know they had a passion for visiting Presidential Museums and were on their way to the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids when they stopped in. He had said they wanted to go to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn and wanted to stop in again when they made that trip. So sorry that they never did. He was a real nice witty guy.
 
My condolences, Jim had very similar experience in the Canal Zone as my father did in the 7th special forces, he was stationed there a little earlier at the Jungle Warfare School. It was nice to hear from Jim about a little of that. Rarely do you meet people with this same experience. My father is the same way, very proud of this work they were doing there.
 
James "Jim" Schreifels, 76, of Watkins, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, March 23, 2020 at the St. Cloud Hospital. A memorial Mass will be held at a later date, along with a social gathering like those Jim loved. Arrangements are with the Ertl Funeral Home, Watkins.

Jim was born on January 6, 1944 to George and Agnes (Peters) Schreifels at Belgrade, Minnesota - and despite their plans for his to be the first hospital birth in the family, he came into this world in a Ford Model T at the end of their driveway. As a boy, Jim recalled seeing electricity come to the Belgrade-area farm he grew up on, and he farmed alongside his father there for several years after he graduated from Belgrade High School in 1961.

In 1964, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army, and he earned his Special Forces Green Beret in 1965 after completing Airborne training at Fort Benning, GA and Combat Engineering and Special Forces training at Fort Bragg, NC. He later completed Spanish language training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Jim served much of his time as a Special Forces Combat Engineer in the Panama Canal Zone as a member of the 8th Special Forces Group, with shorter missions to Puerto Rico and other Central American locations. Although his overseas service didn t include time in Vietnam itself, he was particularly proud of his work at the Jungle Warfare School in the Canal Zone, preparing his brothers in arms to survive that warzone. As his discharge date approached in 1967, Jim and a buddy drove a pickup truck over 3,000 miles north from Panama to his official discharge point at Fort Bliss, Texas, selling the vehicle after they arrived.

After his discharge from the Army, Jim enrolled in the University of Minnesota, majoring in Animal Science. In 1968, Jim came home from college to visit his mother in Rockville and met the young woman renting a room there, a teacher from Hibbing, MN named Margi. Two years later, Jim married Margaret Dunne at St Boniface Church in Cold Spring, MN on April 25, 1970. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota in 1971, and Jim and Margi moved to their farm in Watkins in 1972.

Over the next fifty years, Jim and Margi welcomed six children and fourteen grandchildren into the world. Dad provided many lessons to his kids, including "Be quiet when the news is on," "You always have room for ice cream!", have respect for God and country, and there's always a good time for a dad joke. Grandpa was also loved for many reasons, but taking the grandchildren for Ranger rides, being funny, and "always playing with them" were some of their favorite memories. Jim was looking forward to celebrating fifty years of marriage to Margi on April 25, 2020, surrounded by their children and grandchildren in the same place they celebrated their wedding reception five decades earlier - overlooking Pleasant Lake at the 400 Club.

The family fondly remembers him for his love of auctions, old tractors, and hot chocolate. Jim was an avid fabricator who envisioned better things for every piece of equipment or scrap metal he came across. He had an encyclopedic memory of everything he tinkered with and was quick to share advice and knowledge, particularly regarding tractors and farming. Jim s collection of 2-cylinder tractors grew and shrank over the years, but he always had an old Allis-Chalmers tucked away somewhere. Even as it became more difficult for Jim in later years to make it out to his shop, he loved connecting with people across the country through online forums, where he made many friends and helped solve many of their tractor problems.

Jim s pride in serving his country as an Airborne soldier and a Green Beret was visible to anyone he met, in the form of his ever-present black cap with the Airborne and Special Forces insignia. One of his proudest moments was pinning Airborne wings on his youngest daughter in 2010, standing on the same training grounds at Fort Benning where he had earned his own jump wings 45 years earlier. He was a member of the Watkins American Legion Post #453 for many years, and he recently joined the Special Forces Association and became a life member of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Jim s sense of service extended to his community as well. Jim was an active member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Watkins and enjoyed volunteering as a church usher. He cared deeply about the local and national policies that affect us as citizens, and stepped up to participate in conservative causes in a variety of roles over the years, including local caucus chair and delegate to the state convention. Jim spent countless hours in both leadership and recruiting roles for the organizations he gave his time to, always reaching out to convince more people to become involved with groups like the Legion, the Knights of Columbus, and the Forest City Threshers. If he didn t have a raffle ticket to sell you, he made sure to let you know the date of the next fundraising pancake dinner or fish fry. He enjoyed socializing and supporting area churches and other organizations through pancake dinners, festivals, and other fundraisers.

Jim is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Margi Schreifels of Watkins, and their six children and fourteen grandchildren: Catherine Zadra (Curt Blood) of Watkins, and her children Elizabeth, Nicholas, and Alexander; Mark Schreifels of Kimball, and his children Tyler, Jayce, Dustin, and Travis; Joanna Carley (Richard Claypool) of Maple Grove; Kevin (Christy) Schreifels of Long Prairie, and their children Kaitlyn, Steven, and Jacob; Michael (Dayna) Schreifels of Watkins, and their children Payton, Ashlyn, Jordyn, and Rylan; and Jennifer Schreifels (Jonathan Watkins) of Minneapolis. He is also survived by his sisters, Sue (Charles) Buchan of Cave Creek, AZ and Dolores Vornbrock of Orchard Green, MD.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Eugene Schreifels; sister, Ramona Schneider; and infant brother, Joseph Schreifels.
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May he rest in eternal peace.
 

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