Steven “Steve” R. Oelfke

Obituary

Steven “Steve” Richard Oelfke was born on October 22, 1957, in Granite City, Illinois.  He was the son of Richard and Lila (Wegner) Oelfke. Steve was baptized as an infant on November 17, 1957, in Granite City, IL, and was later confirmed in his faith as a youth on May 2, 1971, at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hamburg, Minnesota.  He received his elementary education at Emanuel Lutheran School in Hamburg, and graduated from Mayer Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota, with the class of 1975.

On July 18, 1981, Steve was united in marriage to Jeanne Karp in St. Peter, Minnesota. Steve and Jeanne made their home on a farm just outside Hamburg, Minnesota. Their marriage was blessed with four children, Andrew, Daniel, Phillip, and Timothy. Steve and Jeanne shared over 42 years of marriage.

Steve was blessed into a farming family.  He was the fifth generation Oelfke to milk the championship herd of Grade A, Registered Holstein dairy cows. Summers were spent baling hay, planting, cultivating, harvesting crops, swatting flies, and sweating. LOTS of sweat! Then there was the “Fair Circuit,” County Fairs, State Fairs, and World Dairy Shows. These were show cattle. If you ever had a “creepy crawler” land on your face in the dairy barn at the Minnesota State Fair, there is a good chance that Steven was at the other end of that string! He had very entertaining stories regarding the "dorms" at the State Fair with the FFA. Another favorite pastime was "fixing," nobody ever talks about the fixing involved in a farming operation; combines, PTOs, electric fences, elevators, frozen water pipes.  Broken pipes in the winter were absolutely the most fun! Steven also enjoyed chasing cows in the middle of the night when they managed to find that one foot of escape route, usually during a thunderstorm which were accompanied by epic downpours.

Following his adventures in farming, he began working at the Kromer Company in Mound, Minnesota. He holds several patents involving athletic field groomers. He was very proud of the vision, development, and fabrication of his overhead, hydraulic, hangar door while employed at Crown Industries Inc. in Plato, Minnesota. He attended the Oshkosh Airshow in 2006 to present the SST Access System on the massive doors. These doors are installed in many airplane hangars, large agricultural sheds, and at Menard's Garden Centers. For the past 13 years, he has been employed at Hydro Engineering in Norwood Young America, Minnesota. There he sells ag equipment for irrigation and pumps for manure application. Yes, his life has come full circle, he returned to waste management.  He has an uncanny ability to envision and design new and more powerful equipment. A side gig of his was observing and predicting the weather forecast, he was a “self-proclaimed meteorologist.”

Steve was a lifelong member of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hamburg. Steve served on the Carver County Fair Board for 13 years and was a delegate to the Minnesota Republican Party. 

He was a man of many hobbies. He accelerated in many sports, but softball and bowling were his best.  He pitched for several different teams in both slow pitch and modified fast pitch; taking these teams to multiple state and national titles.  He was not a good swimmer and would be the first to tell you he "swims like a rock," Michael Phelp’s gold medals are safe! Golfing was his ABSOLUTE worst sport! Jeanne has a permanent scar to prove it. You were safer standing in front of him with a hard hat when he would tee off than behind him!

Fishing gets an entire paragraph!  He enjoyed the serenity and the challenge of fishing. But there was "fishing" and there was "catching.”  Steve loved spending time on both Lake Mitchell in 50 Lakes, Minnesota and Higgins Lake in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. At 50 Lakes, there was occasionally the challenge of keeping minnows alive. Gulf fishing in Texas was a different animal. If you can cast your bait way out there, there is a higher probability of catching a large red drum or shark. He created a “potato-type bazooka” that when under pressure, propelled the bait way out there with a frozen "bait-sicle.” We caught 2 large sharks that way! Delicious! For a guy who couldn't swim, that's a pretty great accomplishment.

Gardening was his passion. He could grow tomatoes that were on steroids. He typically would be harvesting 2-3 pounders, weeks before anybody else. Social occasions were filled with “tomato talk,” Mortgage Lifters and Brandywine were his favorite kinds. Then there was the squash...so much squash! One summer he grew a HUGE Atlantic Giant pumpkin. We could barely move it with the bobcat. Somebody stole it from the end of the driveway and we were quite relieved to be rid of it!  He also loved bird watching. Every year he would have a hummingbird hover in front of his beautiful blue eyes.

Most evenings you could find Steve in the kitchen, conjuring up some delicious culinary feast. He never used a recipe! He taught the boys and their friends how to make donuts in the fryer, prime rib, BBQ ribs, “superfries,” homemade meatballs, meatloaf, and chicken parmesan. Then there was the Thanksgiving Feast which included homemade stuffing and award-winning mashed potatoes!!!! He had a knack for fixing things and if there was something he didn’t have he would create it. In his downtime, Steve kept an investigative eye and ear on the local area via his police scanner.

In 2009, on a whim, Steve and Jeanne purchased a beautiful place on South Padre Island, Texas. It was Steve's hope to spend winters there; it was also where they enjoyed spending time together with family, neighbors, and friends.

Steven Oelfke was a remarkable individual who touched the lives of many through his devotion to faith, family, community, and personal interests.  He will be missed by many. Steve passed away Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at his home in Hamburg, at the age of 66 years, 5 months, and 18 days.  Blessed be his memory.

Steve is survived by his:
Spouse,    Jeanne Oelfke of Hamburg, MN;
Children, Daniel Oelfke of Hamburg, MN,
                Phillip Oelfke and his wife, Leah, of Hastings, MN,
                Timothy Oelfke and his wife, Hillary, of Jacksonville, NC;
Grandchildren, Ezekiel Oelfke, Simon Oelfke, Roman Oelfke, Abigail Oelfke, Luke Oelfke, Hannah Oelfke;
Sister, Beth Schwecke and her husband, Marc, of Gibbon, MN;
Aunts, Carol O’Brien, Sharon Wegner, Doris Wegner;
Nieces, Nephews, Other Relatives, and Many Friends.

Steve was preceded in death by his Parents, Richard and Lila Oelfke; Son, Andrew Oelfke; Sister, Paula Oelfke; Grandparents, Paul and Gertrude Oelfke, Sylvia & Ervin Mielke; Beloved Dogs, Lu and Max.