Michael Sperl

Michael John Sperl was born August 9, 1962 to Walter and Brenda (Lake) Sperl in New Ulm, Minnesota. When he was seven, the family moved to a farm north of Hanska, Minnesota. He attended New Ulm Public School, graduating in 1980. Mike continued his education at Hanska Vocational School specializing in the building trades. Mike worked as a restaurant manager and new location start up operator for Godfather’s Pizza and Country Kitchen. Recently Mike has worked as a maintenance technician and plant operator for Trico IPS of Lake Benton and for Ormat Technolgies. On September 14, 2002 Mike married Heather Westphal at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Odin, Minnesota. Their union is blessed with 17 years of life together. They made their home in the Minnesota towns to which Mike’s work took them—St. James, Lynd, Tyler, and Florence. In May 2017 Mike was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. On Wednesday, November 22, 2017, Mike died at his home in Florence, Minnesota at the age of 55.

Mike is a member of Danebod Lutheran Church. He served on the Danebod Village Board, and was a volunteer fireman in both St. James and Tyler. Mike was very proud to be a fireman and was honored to have his son, Justin, follow in his footsteps. He also served as mayor of Florence. His hobbies included fishing, hunting, camping, and wood working. He especially enjoyed time with his family.

Mike is lovingly remembered by his wife, Heather; his children, Jessica Sperl of Ghent, MN, Justin Sperl of Marshall, MN, Caleb (Rachel) Sperl of Harrisburg, SD, and Danielle Sperl of St. James, MN; 5 grandchildren: Anthony Moreno, Alieah Sperl, Annabelle Henline, Marco Amarillas III, and Kylee Sperl; his mother, Brenda Hall of Mountainair, NM; siblings, Kathy Sperl of Wisconsin Dells, WI, Gail (Jimmy) Fidler of Milton, PA, MaryAnn (Mike) Reibel of Mankato, MN, and Margaret Johnson of New Ulm, MN; and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Walter Sperl; a sister, Dorothy Sperl; his grandparents; aunts and uncles.