David Leander Lindmark

David Lindmark slipped away peacefully early Sunday morning August 10, 2025 in the Intensive Care Unit of Bemidji Hospital after a courageous battle with Parkinson's disease. He courageously and with minimal complaint battled Parkinson's disease since October 2021. His prior medical experiences included taking 18 prescriptions per day, a Medi Vac journey to Sanford Medical Center Fargo and multiple surgeries. His generosity and concern for the extended family and tenacity for any task will be long remembered and missed.

David was born in the farmhouse where his grandparents, Peter Olaf and Minah, raised their eight children. His mother Martha Elizabeth Howard graduated from Clearbrook High School in 1929. His father Oscar Verner traveled by Model T to Currie, Minnesota several times to see Martha while she cared for her mother Clara, who had a stroke in Seattle and returned to Currie by train. Oscar and Elizabeth were married in December 1936 and David was born on October 17, 1937.

His childhood was spent with his three cousins who lived on the farm a quarter mile away, other classmates and his two siblings Sidney Allan Lindmark and Sandra Lindmark Grange, who passed away in January 2025. He tackled all the tasks of a productive 160-acre dairy and cropland farm. The farm era was quickly moved from horsepower and hand milking to mechanized equipment.

David attended Birchmound School, a mile from the farm, and graduated from Clearbrook High School in 1955. His Industrial Arts teacher urged him to be a teacher, but he chose to be a seaman, which he did for 54 years. The deckhands worked days, except when entering or leaving port, and the officers, mess hall and engine room staff worked 8-hour shifts. The Seamen's Union obtained 60 days on, 60 days off only in the latter years.

Although he was often on the Great Lakes shipping taconite to Cleveland, Ohio from Taconite Harbor eight or nine months per year, he read every Leader Record and Farmer's Independent newspaper weekly and knew the occupants of every farm and their children in the Leonard, Shevlin, and Clearbrook area. The extended family received birthday and holiday cards and gifts annually and regular phone calls his entire life. He greatly enjoyed photos of the changing family and genealogy.

His life as a seaman began in 1956 and continued until he retired in December 2010. While consolidation of small shipping companies delayed his progress, he worked with the Internation Steel Group and American Steamship Company from 1984 to 2010. He worked his way up from being a deckhand to becoming the Captain of the M/V Burns Harbor in 2001. Built in 1980, a 1,000 foot long , 5,652 gross tonnage vessel. On occasion, his sister and husband or niece and nephew joined him as his guests.

Upon retirement, David moved to Wind Song in Bemidji as one of their first residents. He chose a third-floor room above the Fireplace Room facing the Bemidji Hospital. Until his health declined, he visited the family farm 2 – 3 times per week, always finding another project to tackle. He spearheaded grant applications for the Birchmound Community Center and managed its upkeep for many years. Although he traveled infrequently, he visited Florida while employed and California numerous times, where several cousins and his brother resided. He, his sister and brother-in-law visited Storuman, Norrbotten, Sweden in 2009. His paternal grandparents emigrated from there to Leonard in 1898. They traveled on the ship SS Ivernia to New York, by train to Minneapolis and north to Leonard by oxcart, arriving in December1899.

David is survived by his brother Sidney of Chanhassen, brother-in-law, William Grange of Baxter, his niece Melissa Grange Fogal (Benjamin Fogal) of Lino Lakes, nephew Matthew Grange (Kerstin Westman) of Lakeville and his sister's five grandchildren, Liam and Isla Grange of Lakeville, and Ethan, Sam and Abby Fogal of Lino Lakes.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar and Martha Elizabeth Lindmark, his uncles, John Lindmark (Aaste) and Elmer Lindmark, and cousins Gerald and Richard Lindmark. The preceding relatives are all buried in Sinclair Cemetery, along with his paternal grandparents.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Cease Funeral Home, Bagley, Minnesota at 1 pm.