With his family by his side, Dale Marshall Soderman, 86, of Great Falls, MT passed away peacefully on April 23rd, 2021 at Peace Hospice.
A memorial service will be held on June 5th at 1 p.m. at Faith Lutheran Church. For those unable to attend in person, Faith Lutheran Church will livestream the service on their website via the media and resources tab.
Born on July 28th, 1934 (along with his twin sister) in Brainerd, MN to Rudolph (Rud) and Marie (Thompson) Soderman; Dale was the oldest of 5 children. The family was raised on ¼ section dairy farm. His family donated a corner of this farm for parking, cemetery and construction of the Bethel Lutheran Church which Dale attended. Dale graduated from Brainerd High School, where he was nicknamed “SodaPop”. He married his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Carole Hedlund on April 20th, 1957; they shared 3 children and 64 years together.
Dale was a hard worker, always busy, but always had time to give a hand to anyone. His first job was his parent’s farm, along with other farms in the area. After high school he went to work at the Brainerd paper mill and then on to Minneapolis where he worked as an apprentice cabinet maker.
Dale enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1954 and was called to active duty in 1957 and traveled the country, from Minnesota to Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. During his time at Fort Benning, Dale was a SGT and an accomplished rifle marksman; He was essential in the training of the Army Ranger Shooting Team. Dale was released from active duty in 1959 when he returned to the Army National Guard and a job waiting for him with the Fleet Supply Corporation.
He continued working for Fleet Supply as a manager from 1963 until he had the opportunity to purchase their store. Dale and Carole purchased the Great Falls Fleet Supply business for themselves in 1990, eventually renaming the store “Soders” Fleet Supply and taking on their son as a partner. They owned and operated this store together, sharing the workload. He drove an F350 Ford Pickup to work every day until his 80th birthday when he became unable to do so. The Soders Fleet Supply was closed in April of last year and have since received many thank you’s via mail and in person for the many years of service Soders Fleet Supply supplied Great Falls and the surrounding area.
He is survived by his loving wife, Carole Soderman of Great Falls, MT; his sons, Boyd Soderman of Great falls, MT and Doug Soderman of Minneapolis, MN; daughter, Lynn (Bo) Evans of Kalispell, MT; sisters, Sharon (Kenny)Schlegal of Brainerd, MN and Joyce (Burt) Coleman of Iowa; brother-in-law, Bud (Gail) Sedlacheck of Minnesota; along with 4 grandchildren. To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Croxford Funeral Home website.
