Funeral services for 86-year-old Milton “Milt” Ratzlaff of St. James, Minnesota, will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, October 19, 2016, at Hosanna Free Lutheran Church in St. James, with Pastor Joe Faldet officiating. The church is located at 1176 11th Street South.
Interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery in rural St. James, located south of the city on Watonwan County Road 27.
Two visitations will be held at the church. The first visitation will be Tuesday, October 18, 2016, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the second on the day of the funeral service from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Sturm Funeral Home-St. James Chapel is handling the funeral arrangements.
Milton “Milt” Ratzlaff passed away on Thursday, October 13, 2016, at Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center in St. James surrounded by his family.
Milton was born on November 28, 1929, the son of Benjamin H. and Anna I. (Penner) Ratzlaff of Mountain Lake, Minnesota. Milton attended Mountain Lake Public Schools, graduating in 1948. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1951 and served as a cryptographer until his honorable discharge in 1953. He did basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
As a senior in high school, Milt began working at the Mountain Lake Appliance store in 1947, and again after his discharge from the Army. He also worked at Epp’s Department Store in Mountain Lake in the menswear and shoe departments.
He met and courted Elaine Blanche Dodge of St. James and won her over with a ride on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. They married on October 7, 1957 and lived in Mountain Lake until 1960, when they moved to St. James. Milt began working at the North Side Super Market until 1962 and then went to work for the Collier’s Red Owl Supermarket. In 1992, he began working for the St. James Public School, working there for four years.
Milt enjoyed visiting with people, taking the time to find out who they were related to and finding ways to connect them to people he knew. He was a huge sports fan at both the professional and high school level and enjoyed attending Vikings and Twins games, as well as supporting high school sports. He never passed up an opportunity to be with friends and family, and his most fond memories are of taking his family camping or on motorcycle trips. He loved singing in the men’s choir at church and truly enjoyed the time he spent transporting others to appointments.
He is survived by his wife, Elaine of St. James; daughters, Sheila Ratzlaff-Chute and Shirley (John) Coleman. both of St. James; sons, Curtis (Jennie) Ratzlaff of Minnetonka Beach, Minnesota and Keith (Mary) Ratzlaff of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; grandchildren, Emily Coleman and her fiancé Justin Johnson of Brooklyn, New York, Macy Coleman and her fiancé John Carlson of Pine River, Minnesota, Daniel Coleman of St. James, Alicia Chute and her fiancé Forrest Razo of Butterfield, Minnesota, Michael and Amanda Ratzlaff of Minnetonka Beach, Megan Ratzlaff, and her special friend Jacob Kunz of Minneapolis, Minnesota; three great-grandchildren, Benton Freitag and Sophia and Abel Razo; sister, Irene (Harold) Becker of St. Paul, Minnesota; brother, Eldean (Deanna) Ratzlaff of Mountain Lake; sister-in-law Faye (Dennis) Ratzlaff of Mountain Lake and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Melvin, Peter and Edwin and twin sisters Lavina and Edna.
