Richard Lincoln Lepp

Richard Lincoln Lepp, age 93, of Saint James, died on November 13, 2023, at The Lodge in Mountain Lake.

A memorial service will be held at Sturm Funeral Home, Saint James Chapel, on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 2:00 pm. with visitation one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery in Saint James.

Arrangements are with the Sturm Funeral Home in Saint James.  Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

Richard was born February 15, 1930 to Peter and Anne (Friesen) Lepp in Lostwood, North Dakota. He graduated from Saint James High School in 1948 and then attended the University of Minnesota Farm School for a year. On September 16, 1951, Richard married Jean Ewert at Augustana Lutheran Church in Saint James. Together, they raised three children, Michael, Connie, and Mark.

Richard was blessed to be able to farm his entire life.  He began his farm career working on the Voss farm south of St. James as a hired hand.  After that he rented land and began raising beef cattle and milked cows near Butterfield. His dream was to purchase farm acreage of his own and did so in the mid 60’s northwest of St. James. There he began raising hogs, corn, soybeans and oats. During the winter months he worked at odd jobs to stay busy.  Richard was also a Pioneer seed corn dealer for many years.  He earned several sales awards during his time with Pioneer.  In his younger years, he and Jean spent many a night square dancing.  He was an excellent dancer and spun Jean around the dance floor during many celebrations.  Richard also loved going Northern fishing with his brothers on their yearly trip to Gurney Lake near Osakis.   He also rarely missed morning and afternoon coffee in Darfur, solving world problems with his life long friends.

Richard is survived by his children, Connie (Randy) Christensen of Brainerd, Minnesota and Mark Lepp of Saint James; daughter-in-law, Luann Lepp of Easton, Minnesota; grandchildren, Melanie (Matthew), Lisa (Kevin), Amanda (Dan), Derek, Andrew (Darla), Sophie (Logan), and Clare; 8 great grandchildren; and brothers, James (Donna) and Colin (Lois).

Richard was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Jean; and son, Michael.