Stuart Edward Ulfers, age 97 of Eagan, Minn., formerly of Annandale, Minn., and Sarasota, Fla. and Richfield, Minn., was born December 26, 1928, to Edward and Tillie (Jurgens) on the farm just outside Chancellor, S.D., right before the Great Depression. Stuart is preceded in death by his parents, siblings, Jewel (Harold) Sweeter, Marjo (Gary) Dannen, and John, and his wife, Frances. Stuart is survived by children, Doug (Sheila), Mark (Mary Ellen), Maurice (Kathy) and Cathy (Bill) Johnson; grandchildren, Karl (Rachel), Benjamin Ulfers, Ashley (Chris) Middendorf, John (Marissa) Ulfers, Katee and Becca (Alex) Handler; great grandchildren, Ellerie, Adelyn, Delainey, Rylee, Harvey, Tatum, Ella and Finn.
Stuart attended a one-room country school through eighth grade and graduated from Chancellor High school in 1946 with seven others in his graduating class. He was raised without electricity or plumbing until after high school. He helped his dad farm and tried farming himself for a year or two after high school but found he had a real interest in being an electrician.
He helped an older guy until he learned the ropes and then hung up his own shingle. The REA was just getting started and there were many farm houses to wire. With a young friend for a partner, they established a small business.
Stuart met a young schoolteacher Frances Ellen Eiserman in the summer of 1947.
They married January 18, 1951, as Stuart was drafted into the US Army. He was stationed in Newfoundland, Canada, building runways.
He had Christmas leave in December of ‘51 and nine months later their first child, Douglas, was born. After he was discharged from the Army he returned to Ulfer’s Electric and went back to being an electrician with his same partner.
After a couple of years they both decided they would benefit by acquiring a higher education and with the help of the GI bill. Stuart and Frances and child moved to Rapid City to attend the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. They lived in GI student housing and Stuart, working three part time jobs, got his degree in Electrical Engineering. Child two, Mark, was born on campus in 1956.
After graduation the young family moved to the Minneapolis area and found work in the budding computer business. His first job was with General Mills. After renting a house in Robbinsdale, where boy child number three, Maurice, was born, they managed to buy their own home in Richfield, the first suburb south of Minneapolis.
In 1960, Cathy was born and the family was complete. With Frances as the homemaker, the children all thrived and attended the Richfield School system – Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, piano and dance lessons, baseball, skating at the rink, riding bicycles everywhere. Summer and Christmas included trips back to the relatives in South Dakota.
Stuart stayed busy adding an addition on the kitchen, finishing the basement, building a patio. In 1968 he bought a lake front lot out towards Annandale and started building a lake house.
In his career, Stuart left General Mills and worked for Advanced Scientific Instruments, then Electrical Mechanical Research, which was bought by Schlumberger in the early 1970s. They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and the family moved to Sarasota, Fla., in 1972. Doug was out of high school and stayed behind in Minnesota.
Every summer Frances and the kids spent six weeks at the Minnesota cabin with dad there for a week on each end, driving the 1,900 miles straight through each way!
As the Florida kids each graduated from high school, they returned to Minnesota, so when Stuart retired in 1989 after 17 years in Florida, they moved back to their lake home, added an addition and settled into their retired lives. They were big gardeners. Dad loved his shop time, bowling, golf, and he completely restored a 1929 Model AA farm truck. He loved doting on the grandchildren and eventually great grandchildren. Stuart kept an eye on any neighbors’ projects and helped them keep their lawn mowers and kitchen appliances working. They traveled throughout the US and Europe and took a cruise or two. For their 50th wedding anniversary they took the entire extended family to Alaska!
As Frances reached her mid-eighties, all the steps at the lake house resulted in her falling. They decided reluctantly to leave the beloved home and move into a senior facility in Eagan close to son Mark. Stuart adapted to his new circumstances and thrived into his early nineties before back and heart and other health issues required more assistance for both of them. On January 18, Stuart and Frances arrived at the milestone of 75 years of marriage!
Frances died on Memorial Day, May 25, and Stuart followed her six weeks later on July 10. Stuart was a can-do guy and embraced the changes he saw over his 97 plus years. He was an active and devout Catholic.
The family expresses thanks and gratitude to the staff at Eagan Pointe and Brighton hospice for their care of both Stuart and Frances, especially during this final year!
Mass of Christian Burial is 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 4030 Pilot Knob Rd, Eagan, MN. Visitation is one hour prior to Mass. Interment with military honors is in Annandale, Minn.
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