A Celebration of Life Service for Richard Elness, age 89, of Windom, will be held Monday, December 18th at 11:00 AM at The American Lutheran Church in Windom, with Pastor Sarah Larsen Tade officiating. Burial will be at Bethany Lutheran Cemetery in Bergen. Military honors will be provided by the American Legion Post #206 of Windom, Minnesota.

A time of visitation and gathering will be held on Sunday, December 17th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at LaCanne Family Celebration of Life Center in Windom. Visitation will continue on Monday for one hour prior to the service at the church in Windom.

Richard Wayne Elness was born October 10, 1934, in Belmont Township, Jackson County, Minnesota, to the late Orvin and Selma (Hill) Elness. He was baptized and confirmed at Hauges Lutheran Church near Bergen. He received his early education at country school in Enterprise Township, Jackson County and graduated from Jackson High School. Rich was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1957 and served two years, until he was honorably discharged. He then returned to the Bergen area and worked in the Bergen gas station with his brother, Ralph.

On December 10, 1960, Richard was united in marriage to Doris L. Harries at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kimball Township. He then went to work at the Windom Tile Factory for five years, until he got into the Post Office, where he worked for 27 years. He also drove the school bus and worked for the Windom School District for 41 years. In addition to driving multiple bus routes, he cleaned and cared for the buses and was always so proud of the way they looked. It was a lot of hard work, but Richard loved it because they always looked nice.

Richard dearly loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He loved sports and played ball with the kids and grandkids when they were young. He played softball in his younger days and bowled in a league. Watching the MN Vikings, MN Twins and MN Timberwolves was a must!

On September 22, 2023, Richard suffered a severe heart attack and after 11 days at Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, he was sent home and began hospice care at the Good Samaritan Society, Sogge Memorial in Windom on October 3, 2023. After a couple months at Sogge, Doris decided to take Richard home on November 22, 2023, to care for him in the comfort of his own home. Richard enjoyed being at home, where he was able to visit with many friends and family. On the morning of December 12, 2023, Richard passed away peacefully with Doris at his side.

Richard is survived by his wife Doris and their four children, Sheryl (Scott) Young of Savage, Robert (Michelle) Elness of Fargo, ND, Kent (Tera) Elness of Windom, and Brigitte (Randy) Junker of Mountain Lake; 9 grandchildren, Taylor Young (Katie Koren), Nathan (Dominic) Riel-Elness, Kelsey Elness (Jason Beilke), Katie (Tom) Green, Thomas (Haley) Elness, Abby (Wyatt) Minion, Jack Henry Elness, Natalie (Jared) Karschnik, and Jacob Junker (Mia Peterson); 5 great grandchildren, Hadley, Knoxx, Arlo, Zayden and Tatum; one sister, Arlene Flynn of Worthington; sister-in-law, Dorothy Elness of Windom; as well as many nieces, nephews, and good golfing friends.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, Orvin and Selma Elness; brothers Ralph (Barbara) Elness and Kenneth Elness; brothers-in-law, Delmar Johnson, and David Flynn; and parents-in-law, Henry & Blanche Harries.

Blessed be the memory of Richard W. Elness.