Garth Richard Engwall
Age 60, of Champlin, passed away suddenly on Friday, March 6th, 2020 of a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Son of Richard and Vianne Engwall, Garth was born in 1959 in Minneapolis, MN, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior at the age of 23 at New Life Church. He is a graduate of Blake H.S. and Gustavus Adolphus College, and has a Master's Degree in Healthcare Infomatics. Garth met the love of his life Holly in 1982, and they were happily married in 1983. Preceded in death by father Dr. Richard L. Engwall. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Holly, daughters Cassandra (Justin Gold), Marinna (Joseph Zinsman), Veronika Simon, 3 grandsons Alakai, Thaddeus Richard, Avidan, and 2 granddaughters Vianne and LauRae, mother Vianne, sister Meredith (Patrick Walsh) and brother Craig. His work history shows a wide variety of roles and industries: Nursing Assistant at MMC, Retail Assistant at LaBelle's, Retail Manager at Luggage World and Gussini Shoes, Claims Examiner at UHG/Board of Pensions/HRM, Claims Project Manager and Marketing Director at HRM, but his real calling was as a Finance Manager for Optum Finance the last 18 years.

There is so much that could be said about Garth.  His love for the Lord and his family were his most prominent and important characteristics, but he was also knowledgeable in a variety of areas and if not he would do research and become knowledgeable.  Garth was an intellectual in that he continually strove to be informed on what the Bible said, what was happening in the community and country/world news.  Despite what you might think from what you read on on social networks he really did care about people and used his knowledge of the constitution and what that stood for to share truth.  Sometimes this drove people nuts which he was OK with, as long as it pushed them out of their complacency.   Garth was a man who always sought to improve and grow in his Biblical convictions and Jesus-based beliefs. He truly sharpened iron and was eager to be sharpened by other's experiences and stories.

Garth for all his intellect chose to live in a very basic way and could meet you where you were no matter what your situation.  Garth also had an unusual mix of skill sets and creative genius to envision options and make them come to life for our family, children and adult programs for church, and community.  There are examples:  building sets, creating/running  sound or music bits, running sound, designing the lighting, playing a character he created like Jonas Grumpy, being a small group leader, helping the youth band, adult drama, choir, and writing holiday programs, skits and dramas.  He also wrote his very own musical "Wayward Son" so his legacy will live on in the children and adults he invested in.  Churches and Community Activities he was involved in:  WEFC/MGEFC and Lyric Arts/Cross Players/Morris Park Players/Renaissance Festival/St Anthony Players/Anoka Children's Theater.

Garth was the kind of guy who was a good friend.  He was able to listen in an understanding way but he also loved to debate and more times than not he felt that people no longer understand what debate means, as their response  would be anger instead of being enlightened.  He was truly like a dog with a bone and the "Art of Debate" was his happy spot.  Not so for many of us.  But his purpose was so that you would learn to think independently with sound reasoning.  Because of this he could not let some things go.

As a husband there are so many stories but the key to Garth was that he was a loving and caring husband; not necessarily with flowery words or big gestures but with his daily deeds and his written words that spoke volumes to me and melted my heart every time.  He was a man who thrived on dreams and plans for our someday as we really did life together.  He really enjoyed doing life with me and sharing his dreams:  he created 2 dream house plans, designed our road/paths/cabin placement up north, he had an idea for a new restaurant which included menu's/layout/business cards.  He created a Smokapalooza event that in 2020 is now in its 9th year, wrote a book on inner beauty that was not published and was an avid blogger. If you knew Garth you know he loved his family more than anything. Garth was fiercely independent and would insist on figuring things out on his own from infancy to the present.  His favorite option was to jury rig things to work "good enough".  His crowning glory was the cabin we built together up north:  Das Slodki Stuga ("The Sweet Cottage") named to tie in our combined heritage: German, Polish and Swedish.  Garth was athletic and loved the outdoors whether playing soccer, basketball, hiking or hunting.  He enjoyed playing games that challenged him and even "hide and seek" in the graveyard with the Owczarek family in Iowa.  He accomplished several bucket list items: surviving the Rim to Rim hike at the Grand Canyon with Holly and just last summer finally getting to do the RV trip with the full family.  He told me just last week, as he put his arm around me:  "I sure do like being with you even if we just sit side by side watching TV".  Garth truly liked doing marriage side by side.

As a Father/Grandfather again we have so much to share:  As father, he was happy to camp, go on walks, play at the park or just hang at home as long as we did life together he was happy and "all in".  Dad enjoyed being with and growing   up were teaching them to shoot, take them on treasure hunts in shopping malls to pass the time, instill confidence and "you don't need no man" self-sufficiency in us, teach us about what marriage should look like if we did someday end up finding "the one", laugh at inside jokes (especially with Mari, using obscure TV/movie references), have long intellectual debates about things happening in the world, ask Cass to ride along with him on any and every errand he needed to do, and so much more. He was an amazing Gampa as well, and one of the hardest things in this loss will be knowing he can never again scoop up his grandchildren into those big strong arms and be their superhero for the day.

He has been an amazing father in law, Grandfather and leader in his family.  He was so involved in my kids lives. They loved him so much. He played with them, hiked with them, climbed mountains, built a play house, shared his faith, danced, played star lord mix tape, cuddled, did escape rooms, board games, bubble game (Avidan), tackle drill, tucked into bed, played lightsaber, played bluegrass, water park. These are literally just a few things he has done with them.

In honor of Garth's love for Hawaiian shirts, we invite and encourage you to wear yours to his service. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the family. Memorial services are being held Saturday, March 14th at First Baptist Church of Anoka, 1235 Park St, Anoka, MN 55303. Visitation 10am, memorial service 11am, with luncheon to follow.