Date of Birth:
Sunday, December 13, 1925
Date of Death:
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Age:
99 years old

Troye Jay Kiefer

Troye Jay Kiefer, beloved son, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, was born in Hazelton, ND in 1925, where his parents and grandparents had farmed since 1902. Family life growing up there was farm life, and it was in his blood. Troye was the eldest of 4 children—followed by sisters Janice and Dolores, and brother, Duane. Childhood work on the farm gave way to approaching adulthood. Continuing in the footsteps of the men in his family, Troye enlisted in the military. He joined the Navy in November 1944. During the war, he was stationed at a facility in the Mojave Desert. After the period of his national service ended, Troye returned to his Hazelton farming community.

According to Amelia, his wife, she first met Troye at his father Walter’s farm when her father, John Ackerman, went to buy some horses. She was about 10. They renewed their acquaintance a few years later. Their first date was in a group, when she was around 15. He lived in Livona, about 20 miles outside of town. She lived in rural Hazelton, about 11 miles outside of town. Amelia was attracted to him, and they liked to go to the movies and to go out dancing. After he returned from military service, they married in 1947. The couple farmed west of Hazelton for several years, then moved away temporarily after losing all their crops for 2 consecutive years because of hail damage. Troye was a skillful carpenter, so he worked at construction jobs to get back on his feet. The family moved to Riverdale, ND, where Troye was employed at the Garrison Dam; then to Akron, Ohio, where he worked at a rubber plant and then to Aiken, SC at a nuclear weapons facility. During these early years of their marriage, they welcomed 3 children: Rodney, Deanna, and Debra. The couple returned again to North Dakota where they took over farming on Amelia’s parents’ farm, west of Hazelton. Stanley, their last son, was born in Bismarck. In 1959, Amelia and Troye relocated to Minnesota where they worked as dairy farmers near Kasson, Byron, and Pine Island, MN. In 1974, when Amelia was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Troye and Amelia sold their farm near Pine Island and purchased a small farm southwest of Zumbrota where they resided until 1996. Troye also worked during this time at Decora, a cabinet company, until his retirement from there at 65 in 1991. In 1996, the couple sold their Zumbrota place, bought a motor home, and toured the country for a couple of years, visiting friends and even some of Troye’s former military buddies. They finally settled permanently in Yuma, Arizona.

Troye and Amelia were partners in life with all its ups and downs until Amelia’s death in 2006 from Parkinson’s disease. Troye remained living in Yuma, their home, but continued to travel to see family and friends when he could. He was never a letter writer but is fondly remembered for his birthday telephone calls. He updated his and Amelia’s address book after her death and kept track of relatives, friends and acquaintances from all over the country. He even joined Facebook and really enjoyed reading it, seeing the pictures of friends and family far away. (He never quite grasped how to answer or comment. But it was the first thing he looked at when he got up in the morning.) He loved receiving cards and notes, saving them all. Troye enjoyed catching up on their news of home and friends and still valued the communities where he grew up and the people he cared about. He moved to be with daughter Deanna in her Louisiana home in October 2023 when he was no longer able to live alone in Yuma, a couple of months shy of 98 years. In September 2024 he moved into assisted living nearby. On December 13, 2024, many of his family were able to join him at a festive family birthday gathering in Louisiana celebrating his 99th birthday. He died peacefully there with family present on January 16, 2025.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, May 2, 2025 in the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home, 1105 12th St. SE, Rochester, MN. Burial will be at Grandview Memorial Gardens, Rochester.