Samuel’s Obituary Samuel David Sperbeck of La Crescent, MN died Saturday March 2, at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was born in La Crosse to Clinton and Anna (Seekamp) Serbeck June 27, 1944. Sam moved to southern California with his parents when he was five years old, then returned to his family’s roots in Money Creek, Minnesota the day after graduation from high school because “the traffic was a rat race then”, according to Sam.
Sam served in the Army from 1968 to 1971. He worked for Nelson Feed Store and Houston Money Creek Creamery in Houston, MN; Mathy Construction, La Crosse, WI; and Graf Electric, La Crescent, MN. Sam met his wife, Charlet Stroh, on a blind date arranged by a mutual acquaintance.
They were married June 27, 1983 in Dickinson North Dakota. In 1986, Sam was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer, Polycythemia Vera, which eventually transitioned to Myelofibrosis. Although this debilitating disease had a profound impact on his health and quality of life for the next three decades, it did not keep him from the work and travel that he enjoyed.
Sam had a strong moral compass-he strived to do the ‘right things‘ in life. He preferred to quietly listen and learn from the conversations of others. Sam enjoyed helping others solve their mechanical, electrical, plumbing, or construction problems.
Sam was a talented metal fabricator, welder, carpenter, and craftsman. He thrived on learning new skills that he then applied to the building of the house that he and Charlet resided in, or the conversion of a passenger bus into a beautiful motor home. Sam enjoyed many hours in the 48’ x 48’ garage he built, where he worked on various projects or motor home maintenance.
Sam enjoyed traveling and camping with Charlet throughout the western United States and Canada. He enjoyed their winters in Arizona. Sam looked forward to weekend campouts with the Midwest Bus Nuts, the Pioneers, and the Ramblin NoDaks chapters of the Family Motor Coach Association.
Other favorite past times included going on drives though the Amish communities, educational sightseeing, taking walks, and doing the daily crossword puzzles in the newspaper. He liked to help Charlet in the kitchen and was known for his slow-baked country-style ribs in homemade sauerkraut. Sam is survived by his wife Charlet; his siblings Mary Ernest, La Vonne Watson, and John (Judy) Sperbeck.
He was preceded in death by his parents Clinton and Anna Sperbeck, siblings Lyle Sperbeck, Stanley Sperbeck, Helen Keeville, and Beverly Winget. The family wishes to thank Doctors J. Farnen, D. Undeland, L. Rosenstein and their staff at Gundersen Health System; and Doctors F. Lambert-Smith and J. Assad and their staff at Mayo Clinic Health System for the excellent medical care that Sam received. Per Sam’s wishes there will be no funeral service.
It was his desire to give the gift of his body to Mayo Clinic for medical education and medical research. Celebrations of Sam’s life will be held on Sunday, March 17, 2019 from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm at the Hokah Fire Department Hall, 9 Mill St., Hokah MN; and Saturday, May 18, 2019 from 12:00 pm until 5 :00 pm at the West River Community Center, 2004 Fairway Street Dickinson, ND. In leu of flowers and plants, memorials should be directed to the the La Crescent Area Food Shelf; La Crescent Animal Rescue; or the MPN Research Foundation (treatment and cure for the blood cancers of polycythemia vera and myelofibrosis).
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
