Steven Elliot Ellingson

life story

Steve with six of his seven grandchildren.

Written by Chad Ellingson

Steven Elliot Ellingson, 72, of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota passed away August 2nd, 2025, after battling brain cancer.

Steve was born April 2nd, 1953, or so his birth certificate says. He has always claimed that to be incorrect and he has used April 5th as his birthdate his whole life. He was born in Harmony, MN, which is right next to the Iowa border, to Curtis and Bette. He was the youngest of five children. Brother Mike, and sisters Pam, Mary, and Sue. He also had a bonus sister, Sue, who along with her husband Jeff, were angels for my dad during his illness.

The family moved to Minneapolis when he was about four years old. He attended North High, which is where he met my mother, Jackie, and they made the happiest mistake of their lives… me. They both graduated from North, in 1971 and 1972 respectively. My mom graduated and they got married days later on June 10th, 1972. I was born in November, and my brother Ryan came along about three and a half years later.

My parents divorced in 1980 and dad moved around a bit including stops in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Minneapolis all while working for Saber Dental Studio, where he spent almost his entire career working as a dental technician. He met Julie Nygaard while working there and they started dating in the mid 80’s. Seeing as though he was a creature of habit (i.e. Earl Brown Bowl if you knew him then or the Legion more recently), he kept things status quo and “dated” her for about 35 years until her death in 2021.

After a few major transitions, he started dating Shirley Hoeppner about three years ago. They got engaged about a year ago and she cared for him through his diagnosis, surgery, chemo treatments, and eventual decline. She was by his side, along with his two angels, when he took his last breath on August 2nd at 8:00 pm. Thank you, Shirley, for supporting him throughout all of this.

Through the years my dad enjoyed softball, bowling, golf, scratch offs, pull tabs and Miller Lite.

One of my favorite stories about my dad was the time that he came to a Boy Scout father/son weekend with me. It took place during the winter when I was about 13 or 14 years old and he actually spent a night with us, albeit in a cabin. I remember that he bought everyone in my troop a treat at the canteen and went snow tubing with us even though he was completely unprepared for the elements. I was extremely surprised he agreed to go, and even more surprised that he was the “cool dad” that weekend.

Even though I struggled with some of the decisions my dad made throughout his life, he was a good guy and I know that he was proud of me, especially of the father I am to my children. He was also proud of his seven grandchildren and their accomplishments. My children Jaxen 19 years old, is a sophomore at UMD, Jayda 17, is a high school senior and varsity soccer and golf player, Jaymik 15, is a high school sophomore workout enthusiast, and Jalaina 11, is a 6th grade dance star. Ryan’s children, Riley 21, is working on her career, Ryder 18, a recent high school graduate and Ricky 9, is a future baseball all-star.

I want to thank all of you for coming today to celebrate his life. Surprise, surprise, it was his wish to throw a party instead of having a funeral. I know he is looking down and is honored to see how many of you took time to come on his behalf. I also want to thank my wife, Laneé, for all her love and support during this challenging time. Please raise up your drink and lets toast Steve one final time.

memorial service

Celebration of Life

August 23, 2025

Palmer Lake VFW Post #3915 2817 Brookdale Dr, Minneapolis, MN 55444, USA

Celebration of life from 1:00- 4:00.

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services