William Schott

Funeral services for William Dale Schott, of Chokio, Minnesota, will be held Thursday, February 11, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chokio.  Father John Paul Knopik will be the celebrant for the service.  Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday.  Burial will be at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery by Chokio, Minnesota.

There will be a live stream of Bill’s service starting at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 11th. To view the service on the Pedersen Funeral Home website, scroll to the bottom of Bill’s page and click on the link.

While maintaining social distancing guidelines, we are now able to accommodate gatherings of up to 250 people. The use of face masks by attendees is required, and we will continue taking the necessary steps to keep our facility clean. For those who prefer or require continued precautions, webcasting and/or livestreaming is available in most situations.

William Dale Schott, son of William and Dorothy Eleanor (Parrow) Schott, was born September 8, 1940 in Graceville, Minnesota.  He was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chokio.  Bill grew up on a farm South of Chokio and attended Country School District #32 until he was 10 years old and graduated from Chokio Public School in 1958.  Following his schooling, he lived and worked on the family farm.  He was united in marriage to Dorothy Wencel on April 16, 1966 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Graceville, MN.  The couple made their home on his family farm where he continued farming.  They were blessed with two children, Tamara and William Thomas.  Bill later began working at Federated Telephone and eventually became a safety director with Association Minnesota Telephone Utilities, which allowed him to travel all over Minnesota and North Dakota for work.  In 1988, they moved to a farm west of Chokio on Highway 28, where he continued farming until his retirement. Following his retirement, Bill and Dorothy remained on their farm site until October of 2020 when they moved to their home in Chokio.

Bill was a very active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church where he taught religion, served as an usher and eucharistic minister and was a member of the Board of Trustees.  He transferred all of his energy from farming to gardening, where he was known for his huge garden and his trailer parked at the end of the driveway on Highway 28, where he sold his vegetables on an honor system.  Vegetables that would be left over, Bill would donate to the nursing home and give to friends and family who did not have their own garden.  When he wasn’t in his garden, you would find him in his workshop fixing and doing maintenance on cars, snowmobiles and three wheelers.  Traveling was his passion, there are very few states that Bill and Dorothy were not able to visit.  He loved driving and took many road trips with his family.  Most of their life, Bill and Dorothy owned a convertible which they really enjoyed. Bill was always up for a casino trip, where he had incredible luck.  Bill also enjoyed going to coffee at McDonalds with the “Rusty Zipper Club.” Bill and Dorothy had four granddaughters, and they meant the absolute world to him.  He will be remembered by his family as always being the center of attention, never a moment wasted and for being an extremely proud farmer and hard worker.

William passed away unexpectedly at his home in Chokio on Friday, February 5, 2021 at the age of 80.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Ann of Chokio; daughter: Tamara (Daniel) King of Hastings; son: William Thomas (Rachel) Schott of Chokio; four granddaughters: Makenzie (21), Karissa (16), Makarian (15) and Jillian (12); sisters: Eleanor (Vern) Nickolauson of Ortonville and Dieanna (Gary) VanDerBeek of Glenwood; brother: Richard (June) Schott of Branson, MO; brothers-in-law: John (LaVae) Wencel of Echo, Herman (Patty) Wencel of Graceville and David Carrington of Omaha, NE; sisters-in-law: Helen (Jeff) Backer of Browns Valley, Kathy (Frank) Hein of Windom and Harriet Martin of Cottage Grove and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; father and mother-in-law: Herman and Rose Wencel; brothers-in-law: Marvin Martin and Victor Wencel and sister-in-law: Eleanor Carrington.

Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris is in charge of the arrangements.