Neil Wagner

Neil Clinton Wagner was born on July 15, 1931, in Fredonia, North Dakota, to Louis and Elsie (Gackle) Wagner. He grew up as the second of seven children. In 1945, his family moved to a farm near Monango. Neil graduated from high school in 1949 and worked on the farm for another six years before leaving for college.

He studied civil engineering at North Dakota State University from 1955 to 1959 and was recruited to join the Boeing Company. He moved to Seattle and worked for 21 years mostly at Minuteman Missile sites on Air Force bases across the Midwest. During those years, he also became a member of the Masons and the Shriners, and earned his pilot's license.

In 1971, Neil married Lonnie Newman, having met through Neil's sister Carol, a classmate of Lonnie's at the Ellendale State Teachers College. Together, Neil and Lonnie raised three children. In 1980, they returned to Ellendale and Neil farmed with his brother Fred. He served on the Ellendale School Board, the Southeast Water Board, and supported the Presbyterian United Methodist Church as a longtime member.

After retiring from farming, Neil worked as a crop adjuster for Dawson Insurance, crisscrossing North Dakota backroads and visiting with farmers. He was in his element on those trips, the pop of crunching gravel under the car tires followed by crunching numbers on a notepad. In 2014, he and Lonnie moved to Oronoco, Minnesota, to live closer to their children and grandchildren.

Neil planted trees, kept bees, and restored dozens of tables, chairs, and cabinets. An engineer at heart, he did everything with precision, whether he was making picture frames out of barnwood, planting rows of vegetables in the garden, or handwriting letters to family in his all caps style. He had a deep love of sports, history, and westerns. His sharp memory held decades of football statistics and historical facts. He rooted for the Yankees and remained a devoted, yet heartbroken, Minnesota Vikings fan.

Neil was a devoted uncle, a loyal son, a proud father, and loving husband. His grandchildren and pets instinctively trusted him and wanted to be crawling up his back or playing at his feet. In his later years, it was common to see either a dog or a cat at his heels in the garage or headed out to the field, like a four-legged shadow.

Neil died on April 16, 2025. He leaves behind his wife Lonnie; his children and their spouses, Clay and Sarah (Wedell), Neilee and Shad Thorstenson, and Cale and Aida (Iskanderova); and ten grandchildren: William, Catherine, August, Beatrix, Ellis, Elsie, Abram, Cora, Mattea, and Liev.

A memorial service is planned for July/August 2025 in Ellendale. Donations can be made to the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Shriners Hospitals for Children, or to plant a tree in his memory.