Howard "Zeke" Sloneker

Howard “Zeke” Sloneker, 101, a longtime Stewartville,Mn resident passed away, family by his side, of natural causes on Wednesday (September 15, 2026) at Shorewood Senior Living in Rochester,MN, where he had been a resident since 2017.

Howard was born on January 16, 1925 on the family farm near Northrop,MN to Edward and Alma(Milbrandt) Sloneker. He attended school in Northrop until the 8th grade, before moving with his family to Welcome,MN and then Fairmont,MN  graduating from Fairmont HS in 1943. In June of 43, he enlisted into the US Army serving during WW II, training with the Air Force as a B 24 bomber flight engineer. After his discharge in 1945, he returned to MN and attended Mankato Teachers College graduating with a Bachelors Degree in 1949 and earned his Masters Degree in 1959. Howard was married on June 24, 1950 at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Alma City,MN to Dorothy M. Krautbauer. Following their marriage, the couple lived briefly in Mankato, where Howard was employed teaching biology in the North Mankato Public school district, until his recall into the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict. After his discharge they returned to Mankato, before moving to Stewartville in 1952 where they raised their children and have continued to make their home. Howard was employed as a biology teacher at Stewartville H.S for 36 years until his retirement. He also helped start the SHS Wrestling program and coached for 15 years sending many Tiger wrestlers to State competition and watching his teams win a number of District Titles. He coached SHS Baseball for 8 years and was inducted into both the Mayo Civic Center and SHS Coachs Hall of Fame. Dorothy was a homemaker and also was employed partime at both the Fish House and Flame restaurants in Stewartville. Zeke moved to Rochester following the death of his wife - Dorothy on February 11, 2017.

Howard was a longtime active member of  St. Johns Lutheran Church in Stewartville and served as an elder and held many offices thru the years. He was active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce and with Summer Suburban Youth baseball  as a coach. Howard and Dorothy enjoyed traveling together, touching all 50 states by any mode of travel available and vacations up north. He enjoyed garden and yard work, golfing, fishing and going with Dorothy to his kid’s and grandkid’s sport and school activities.

Howard is survived by one daughter and four sons - Craig(Kim) of Forest Lake,MN; Mark(Deb) of Stewartville; Lynn(Brian) Gray of Rosemount,MN; Brett(Jearleen) of Minneapolis,MN and Brian(Rita) of Tampa,FL; 7 grandchildren - Shelly( Mike) Diener, Karmin Sloneker, Justin(Michelle) Sloneker, Brandon(Natasha) Sloneker, Hannah(Jake) Chambers, Lilli(Matt) Carlson and Breanna(Brian) Cameron; 10 great grandchildren - Brooke, Stella, Zeke, Theodore, Violet, Isla, Finn, Maclan, Adalynn and Ainsley: sister – Janice Thate of Fairmont,MN and many nieces and nephews. He was proceeded in death by his wife of  67 years – Dorothy, his parents,  3 sisters – Carol Smith, Elaine Pohlman, Betty Prochniak and 4 brothers – Lyle, Arlo “Jim”, Gerald ‘Jerry” and Duane ‘Sonny”  Sloneker.

The funeral service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday (September 26, 2026) at St. John's Lutheran Church in Stewartville with Rev. Nick Wagenknecht officiating. A time of visitation for family and friends  will take place from 5 to 7:00 P.M. on Friday (September 25, 2026) at St. Johns Lutheran Church and 1 hr. prior to the service on Saturday morning A private family burial will take place at a later date at Woodlawn Cemetery in Stewartville. Arrangements are with Griffin-Gray F.H. in Stewartville. Memories and condolences of Howard are welcome at www.griffin-gray.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Howard "Zeke" Sloneker, please visit our floral store.