Services for Elwood Higdem
Mon, 11/01/2021 - 8:15am
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Elwood Higdem, 82, of Clearbrook, Minnesota died on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at his home in Clearbrook, MN, surrounded by his loving family.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 1, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Clearbrook, Minnesota, with the Reverend Mark Olson officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the services at the church. Interment will be held at Greenwood Cemetery at Clearbrook, MN. The Cease Family Funeral Home of Bagley assisted the family with arrangements.
Elwood was born on April 13, 1939 at Fosston, Minnesota, the son of Floyd and Elsie (Sletto) Higdem. He was baptized at Zion Lutheran in Fosston on July 19, 1939 and confirmed at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Clearbrook on March 28, 1981. He grew up and attended school in Gonvick. Elwood started driving truck in 1959 at the age of 20. He worked for various trucking companies through the years. For the last 30 years, he was an owner-operator with Wille Transport out of Cohasset, MN. Elwood was the proud father of Curt and Carla Higdem. He married Joan Barbara Faldet on June 28, 1980 in Clearbrook, MN. At that time, he gained a bonus family of four children.
In 2014, Elwood had the great honor of transporting the United States Capitol Christmas tree from the Chippewa National Forest in Cass Lake, MN to Washington D.C., along with his wife Joan. It took several weeks with many celebratory stops along the way. Elwood had a passion for trucking and helping his stepsons farm. His love of work kept him from retiring, and he delivered loads into his 80s. He loved his Kenworth truck and treasured keeping it up to date. Elwood liked to keep things local and could be found visiting and telling stories at the local businesses and parts stores while picking up supplies to repair farm equipment and vehicles. Elwood loved to stop by the day care which his wife and stepdaughter ran and became known as Grandpa Elwood to many daycare children throughout the years. He thought the world of all of the children and became especially attached to Gunner Olson, who enjoyed coming over to talk trucks and tractors with Grandpa Elwood. Elwood was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Family was very important to Elwood. He enjoyed family Sunday meals and watching the Vikings games. He adored his grandkids very much and was always teasing them and telling them stories. Elwood would make phone calls to them and his lovely wife daily while he was on the road. He knew every road by heart and was like a walking road atlas. He loved to laugh, had a great sense of humor, and was quite the jokester, with a comeback for everything. He will be greatly missed.
He is survived by his wife – Joan Higdem of Clearbrook, MN
Daughter - Carla (Jeff) DeVries of Austin, Texas
Son – Curt (Paula) Higdem of Fairfax, MN
Step-daughter – Tracy (Tim) Wold of Savage, MN
Step-son – Ross (Jennifer) Faldet of Clearbrook, MN
Step-daughter – Shannon (Gary) Matthews of Clearbrook, MN
Step-son – Ryan Faldet of Clearbrook, MN
Grandchildren – Cody and Ashley Higdem; Cohl (Alyssa) and Ethan DeVries; Kaia and Andrew Wold; Madelynne (Anthony Ahrens), Jonah and Danielle Faldet; Taylor Faldet (Taylor Parker); Willie, Zach (Alyssa) and Carter Matthews. Step-great grandson – Razzer Matthews; Sister-in-law – Kathye Higdem.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his son – Douglas Higdem; 3 Brothers – Gerald, Carroll, and Floyd Clifford Higdem, his grandmother who raised him (Bertha Sletto), his father- and mother-in-law George and Olga Hagen.
Messages of condolence may be sent to ceasefuneralhome.com