Leroy D. Harder

Leroy D. Harder, age 84, of Butterfield, MN died on May 9, 2025, at Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center in Saint James, MN.

Visitation will be on Monday, May 19, 2025 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Sturm Funeral Home, Mountain Lake Chapel.

Interment will be on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 9:00 am at the First Mennonite Cemetery in Butterfield, MN.

Services will be held at the Bethel Mennonite Church, Mountain Lake, on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 11:00 am with visitation at the church for one hour prior.

The clergy will be Pastor Merwin Dick.

Arrangements are with the Sturm Funeral Home in Mountain Lake, MN.  Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

After a long illness, at the age of 84, Leroy David Harder died on Friday, May 9th, 2025 in the Good Samaritan Society Nursing Home in Saint James, Minnesota. As a family we are thankful to the staff for their compassionate care.

Leroy Harder was born on April 29, 1941 in rural Butterfield, MN, in the home his grandfather built on land Leroy would farm from 1973-2016. He was the fifth child of Henry M. Harder (Butterfield) and Aganetha Harder (née Harder, from Lostwood, North Dakota). He graduated from Butterfield High School in 1959, and from Freeman Junior College in 1961. From 1961 through 1963, he served alternative service to the military draft in Belgian Congo, working for PAX, a precursor to the Peace Corps. There he met his first wife, LeEsther DeFehr (née Funk) from Corn, Oklahoma. They were married in 1964. He returned to the United States to complete his Bachelor’s Degree from Bethel College, in North Newton, Kansas in 1965.

He returned to farm his uncle’s land north of Butterfield in 1965. His marriage to LeEsther produced two sons, Benjamin (b. 1967) and Timothy (b. 1968).

After 1984 Leroy lived alone until he met his second wife, Marlene White (née Dick), from Mankato. They were married in 2000 and remained committed to each other until his death.

He is most remembered for his musical pursuits. From the 1970s through the 1990s, he sang with the Mountain Lake Choral Society, Prairie Arts Chorale, and the Minnesota Valley Chorale, where he met Marlene. He also sang as a soloist on numerous occasions. He performed on stage with the Mountain Lake and St. James community theaters, playing supporting roles in many musicals and starring in Oklahoma! and South Pacific. From the 1990s through 2007, he performed with two traveling Gospel Quartets, “The Kinsmen” and “The Spokesmen,” as well as continuing to sing in community groups.

He was a long-time supporter of the Butterfield Threshermen’s Association, working in the blacksmith shop from 1978 through 2016.

Leroy David Harder was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Sylvia Chaika, and his brother Henry Allen. He is survived by his wife, Marlene; his son Benjamin Harder and daughter-in law Kathleen Gurnett (El Cajon, California), his son Timothy Harder and daughter-in-law Pauline Harder (Butterfield) and their children Timothy Jake (Butterfield) and Zachary (Minneapolis); his step-son Andrew Gosen and wife Heather (Lakeville), and their children Nyla (Shakopee) and Jordan; his step-daughter Julia McCandless and husband David (Minnesota Lake), and their children Olivia, Emily, and Charlotte;  two sisters, Edna Andres (Peabody, Kansas), and Marjorie Baerg (Mankato); his ex-wife, LeEsther DeFehr (Mountain Lake); and many cousins, nephews, nieces, and other relatives.

Memorials will be donated to MCC and Butterfield Threshing Bee.