Mark Edward Lange

Mark Lange, 64, of Montevideo, passed away Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM at The Refuge Church in Montevideo with Pastor Barry Brace officiating.  A private interment will be held at a later date, at Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery of rural Montevideo.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church on Saturday.

Arrangements are with Anderson – TeBeest Funeral Home of Montevideo. www.andersontebeest.com

Mark Edward Lange was born Nov. 13, 1958, in Montevideo, to Arnold and Loretta Lange. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church and confirmed at Our Saviors Lutheran Church both of Montevideo. He was a member of the Montevideo Class of 1977. He especially enjoyed band, mechanic shop, industrial arts, and FFA. But most important to him were his many lifelong relationships with childhood friends and classmates. After high school, he attended the Area Vocational Technical Institute in Granite Falls graduating from the machine tool program in 1979. 

For forty years, Mark worked as a CNC machinist, tool & die maker, programmer, and injection mold pattern maker. His attention to detail and dedication to his job were some of his greatest attributes. During his career, he worked for Chandler Industries, Montevideo Technology Inc., Plews Tool, SpecSys, O&E Tool and Plastics, among others, all in MN.

In 2001, Mark married Wendy Haan; and they made their home and farmed together in rural Milan. After divorcing in 2009, he moved to the Milaca and Clearwater areas and worked in the Twin Cities. In 2011 he married Jamie Hoffman, their union lasting until 2020. 

In 2022, after two years of retirement, Mark began working as caretaker for the Chippewa County Historical Society at Pioneer Village and the Swenson Farm Museum. He absolutely loved this job for the sense of gratification he felt in the preservation of bygone ways and the education of the history that went along with that.

Along the way, for over sixty years, he owned and trained many horses, became a farrier, and was a true cowboy in every sense of the word. He was a longtime member of The Valley Riders Saddle Club and enjoyed many friends in that community. Mark also farmed organically for ten years, raising meat and dairy goats, chickens, and produced milk, eggs, hay, and grain, as well as operated a local flour mill. He loved his dogs and cats, the outdoors, trail rides, hunting, old cars, sunsets, and country music. He was a saxophonist, played the harmonica and was learning to play the banjo. Always the adventurer, he was a single-engine aircraft pilot as well as an avid lifelong motorcyclist. 

He was seldom absent from his family and friends, ready to stand and be counted; whether the task was toil or tomfoolery, his loyalty, positive attitude, unassuming nature, and sense of humor defined him. Mark lived life his way, to the fullest, with fervor and forgiveness, because of his deep abiding faith in God and salvation, with a knowledge that this world is only our dress rehearsal to the hereafter. May his memory be blessed.

He is survived by his siblings, Eric (and Dinah) Lange and Anissa (and Bill) Kuno, all of Montevideo; his nephews and niece, Seth, Luke, and Aiden Kuno, and Andrew and Shaylene Lange; many cousins; and his special friend and fellow adventurer, Louise Winfield, of Rochester, MN.

Preceding him in death were his parents, grand-parents, and all of his aunts and uncles.