Garth W. Seavey, 74, of Austin, Minn., died on Sunday, May 6, 2012, at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn.

Garth Wayne Seavey was born on May 3, 1938, to Clifford and Opal (Ellis) Seavey in Austin. He graduated from Austin High School in 1956. He then served in the United States Navy stationed in Adak, Alaska and Portland, Maine. Upon earning his honorable discharge from the Navy he attended Austin Community College.

Garth worked for the Mower County Soil and Conservation Department and spent most of his career as an engineer for the Milwaukee Road. He also owned Seavey’s Standard Station and Seavey Realty. He was a hardworking and intelligent business man who operated with integrity and character.

Garth married Jeanne Erickson on June 25, 1960, and they were married for 52 wonderful years. Together, Garth and Jeanne brought three daughters and one son into the world. Garth was a devoted family man who loved his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all of his extended family. He looked forward to family gatherings and could be counted on to make sure everyone had a good laugh.

Garth was also a good athlete and relished all of the fun with his friends playing football, hockey, broomball, softball and golf. His friends and neighbors were very important to him and he talked about them with great joy. Despite some physical hardships later in life, he had an incredibly positive attitude that inspired and encouraged people.

After his family and friends, Garth’s greatest love was the outdoors; he absolutely loved to hunt and fish. He was an adventurer who always wanted to portage into that next lake or hike into that remote spot. He was a dreamer and was always talking about his next adventure and places he might explore. He enjoyed life to the fullest and will be dearly missed.

Preceding him in death were his parents, Clifford and Opal; brother, Gerald; and a daughter, Nancy.

Survivors include his wife Jeanne; daughters Laurie Brown and Kristine (Jason) Louks; son Kevin Seavey; grandchildren Curtis (Rebecca) Seavey, Matthew Seavey, Morgan (Jordan) Lopez, Dylan Brown, Taylor Brown, Olivia Louks, Alexandra Louks and Lauren Louks; and great-granddaughter Elizabeth Seavey.

Blessed be his memory.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, May 10 at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin, Minn. with Pastor Paul Hauschild officiating. Interment will be at the Lansing Cemetery, Lansing, Minn., with Austin Post #91 American Legion in charge of military rites. Visitation will be held for one hour before the service at the church in Thursday. Clasen-Jordan Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Honorary bearers will be Curtis Seavey, Matthew Seavey, Dylan Brown, Jim Erickson, Dave Hall, Brad Erickson, and Doug Seavey.