Roy E. Finn

The Mass of Christian Burial for Roy E. Finn, 88, a longtime Chatfield, MN area farmer will be at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday (July 24, 2021) at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Stewartville, MN with Rev. Kevin Connolly officiating. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery in Chatfield, MN.  Mr. Finn died on Monday (July 19, 2021) of natural causes at the Stewartville Care Center where he had been a resident for 3 weeks.

Roy Elwood Finn was born on November 14, 1932 in Rochester, MN to Arthur and Loretta (Byrne) Finn. He moved with his family as a 7 yr. old boy to the current Finn family farm in rural Chatfield. He attended country school and Chatfield H.S., graduating in 1949 and began farming with his family. Roy was married on September 11, 1954 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chatfield to Shirley A. Barth. Following their marriage, the couple lived on the Finn Family homestead where they farmed, raised their children and lived for over 55 years. Roy farmed into his early 80’s.  Following the sale of the dairy herd in 1977, he was employed part-time at Super-Valu Grocery in Chatfield and Boyum’s Grocery in Stewartville. He and Shirley moved to Stewartville in 2012.  Shirley was a homemaker and helped extensively on the farm. Roy and Shirley were longtime active members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chatfield. They joined St. Bernard’s Catholic Church after moving to Stewartville. Roy was born to farm and in his spare time followed the MN Vikings. He enjoyed visiting with friends and neighbors and time spent with his family, especially his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Roy is survived by his wife of 67 years – Shirley; 3 daughters and 2 sons – Jerry (Nancy) Finn of rural Stewartville; Eileen Finn of Stewartville; Duane Finn (Betty Goff) of Woodbury, MN; Mary Gripentrog of Sioux Falls, SD; Shari (Tony) Weber of Sioux Falls, SD; 9 grandchildren – Jeff (Natalie) Finn, Jackie (Mike) Day, Kelli Butrum (Mark Kellen), Kari (Todd) Hammel, Matt (Meghan) Finn, Mike Finn, Meg Finn (Joe Filipas), Brett (Melissa) Gripentrog and Beth (Duey) Duimstra; 13 great grandchildren – Justin, Nora, Madeline, Jack, Brielle, Emily, Jacob, Olivia, Ellis, Asher, Larkin, Gemma and Brody and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 sisters – Helen Raatz and Ruth Boysen and brother - James Finn.

We want to thank the following for their excellent care of Roy; Dr. Vaughn and his staff at NE Mayo Clinic, Beth with Stanley Jones and Associates and Mayo Hospice.                                

A time of visitation for family and friends will take place from 5 to 7:00 P.M. on Friday (July 23, 2021) at St. Bernard’s Church in Stewartville and from 9:30 A.M.  to the time of service on Saturday at the church. Arrangements are with Griffin-Gray F.H. in Stewartville. Condolences and memories of Roy are welcome at www.griffin-gray.com

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