Cecil Stangeland

Cecil D. Stangeland, 86, New Effington, passed away Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at a nursing center in Fargo.

Funeral Services will be Thursday, January 15, at 11:00 a.m. at Faith Lutheran Church in New Effington with Rev. Karie Geyer and Rev. Pat Schubert officiating. Music will be provided by Melanie Yost.  The service will livestreamed on the First, Faith & Our Savior’s Lutheran Parishes Facebook page. 

Burial will be in the Ferkingstad Lutheran Cemetery, Hammer, SD. Military honors will be provided by the Read-Veflin American Legion Post 180 of New Effington and the Leo American Legion Post 48 of Rosholt. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Read-Veflin Post 180 and the Leo  Post 48. Active pallbearers will be his grandsons Logan Wickenheiser, Cameron Ercink, Jason Snaza, Michael Snaza and Eric Snaza, and great-grandsons Korbin Ercink, Blake Ercink and Gabriel Ercink.

Visitation will be Wednesday, January 14, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Eggers Funeral Home in Rosholt and will continue Thursday one hour prior to the service at the church.

Cecil Delancey Stangeland was born in Sisseton, SD, on August 9, 1939, to Albert and Thora (Stave) Stangeland. He went to elementary school in rural Roberts County, SD, and graduated from high school in New Effington, SD, in 1957. He went on to Northern State College in Aberdeen for a short time, then moved to Minneapolis, MN, to work as a welder making steel railings at Olson Manufacturing. It was during this time that he met the love of his life, Enid Lu Pearson, while carpooling from the Twin Cities back to South Dakota.

Cecil was drafted into the US Army in May 1963, went to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, and then was stationed in Fort Hood, TX. He was also stationed in Germany for a time. He was honorably discharged from the Army on May 14, 1965.

Cecil and Enid were married June 19, 1965, at St. Joseph’s Lutheran Church in rural Rosholt, SD. They made their home north of Hammer, SD, eventually moving onto Cecil’s parents’ home farm where they were dairy farmers for 25 years. They raised 4 children on that farm. After farming, Cecil worked for Power Sentry in Sisseton, Dakota Pillow in Sisseton, and then was custodian at Sisseton High School until he retired in 2004 at the age of 65. Soon after that time, the farm flooded and Cecil and Enid moved to New Effington where they spent their time with church functions, American Legion activities, and traveling to watch their grand kids’ activities in nearby Fargo, ND, area and Maplewood, MN.

Cecil loved children, loved the outdoors, arts, puzzles, and music. With some of his very little spare time he enjoyed woodworking. He would make shelves for their home and work on other projects. The deck he created for their ‘house on the hill’ had a beautiful sunrise design to the railing – very original. He was an amazing singer but did not purposely sing in choirs or solo, but if you were lucky enough to sit near him in church you would be mesmerized by his beautiful voice.

He and Enid square-danced in the 1970’s every Saturday night in Hankinson, ND, and Sisseton, SD, where they made wonderful friends and fond memories. After years of farming, he still loved going for drives through the countryside looking at the crops, enjoying the trees and changing seasons, and gardening and growing the most amazing rose bushes at their new home in town. They were quite a team – almost never apart. On the farm, Enid would help in the garden or bring lunch to the field. In later years, Cecil would help in the kitchen, doing the difficult final stirring of the ‘grandma bread’.

In 2010 Cecil and Enid began traveling to Texas for the winter months – after celebrating Christmas with their family of course. They eventually purchased a camper at Bibleville Campground in Alamo, TX, to be near Cecil’s brother Marlin and his wife Beverly. Later they bought a larger home on the same campground and continued enjoying the warm sunshine each year, often bragging to his kids that it was a balmy 80 degrees there while we bundled up in the -20 degree chill of the ND and MN winters. He would often remark how he could not believe he lived in such a cold country and milked cows all his life when there were so many other places he could have lived.

Cecil was a quiet and kind soul, never angry, and always positive, even through the last few months when dementia took his strength away. He remembered us nearly to the very end of his days, and would always say goodbye with a tender hug and a ‘love you much’. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Cecil went to live in his heavenly home on Tuesday January 6, 2026. He is survived by his wife Enid of 60 years; sister Ardean (Gilbert) Rudolph, Tehachapi, CA; brother David (Olivia) Stangeland, Tacoma, WA; his children: daughter Carol (John) Wickenheiser, Kindred, ND, and their children Jasmine (Cameron) Ercink – Elizabeth, Korbin, Blake, and Gabriel – Horace, ND, Logan Wickenheiser, Fargo, ND; daughter Carmen (Paul) Snaza, Maplewood, MN, and their children Jason Snaza (Maddie Peichel-fiancée), Sabin, MN, Michael Snaza (Anna Kahlstorf-fiancée), Bemidji, MN, Eric Snaza, Maplewood, MN, son Kevin (Rachel) Stangeland, Jake and Janae, West Fargo, ND, son Chris (Anna) Stangeland, Fargo, ND.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Thora Stangeland, parents-in-law, Ernest and Ada Pearson; infant sister Rose Ella Stangeland; brother Marlin (Beverly) Stangeland; sister Verna (George) Bauman; granddaughter Samantha Wickenheiser; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.