Northfield Firefighter Chad Daniel Van Zuilen died in a snowmobile accident on Sunday, February 24, 2019.
His obituary reads:
Chad Van Zuilen, age 37 of Northfield, passed away Sunday, February 24, 2019, following a snowmobile accident.
Chad Daniel Van Zuilen was born May 15, 1981, in Faribault to Daniel and Tamera (Bauernfeind) Van Zuilen. He was raised in Faribault and attended Faribault Schools. On April 5, 2006, he married Jessica Jean Webber in Negril, Jamaica. After marriage they made their home in Dundas/Northfield. Chad was employed with Culligan Water for over 15 years and most recently with the City of Northfield.
Chad was active as an EMT and Fire Fighter with the Northfield Fire and Rescue Department since April 1, 2013. He enjoyed auto racing and worked on a pit crew at Elko Raceway. He was a talented mechanic and loved working on cars. He was fun loving, caring, meticulous, generous, and loved his family dearly. He will be greatly missed.
Survivors include his wife, Jessica; his sons, Carson Van Zuilen (special friend Elizabeth Morsching), Mason Van Zuilen; his mother, Tammy Van Zuilen; his father and step-mother, Dan and Becky Van Zuilen; his sister, Sarah Van Zuilen (Brent Quernemoen), all of Faribault; his grandparents, Sandy (Gary) Roemhildt of Janesville, Dean Bauernfeind (Barb Thompson) of Faribault; his in-laws, Rodney and Jeanne Webber of Northfield; his special friend, Jen Adams of Northfield; his brother-in-law, Jeremy Webber of Northfield; 3 nephews, Hunter Quernemoen, Henry and Lincoln Webber; other relatives and many friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents Phil and Therese Van Zuilen.
Services will be 11:00AM, Friday, March 1, 2019, at Canvas Church, 404 Schilling Ave, Dundas. Visitation will be from 3-8PM, Thursday, February 28, 2019, at Canvas Church. Visitation will continue at 10:00AM on Friday at the church. Pallbearers will be Edwin Oster, Ted Reuvers, Steve Anderson, Jeremy Webber, Jesse Hoffman, Bill Schrot, Jeff Amy, Tom Mann, Adam Royle and Duane Mador. Honorary pallbearers are Carson Van Zuilen, Mason Van Zuilen, Hunter Quernemoen, Henry Webber, Lincoln Webber, and the members of the Northfield Fire and Rescue Squad.
Memorials are preferred to the Chad Van Zuilen Memorial Fund.
Arrangements are with the Benson & Langehough Funeral Home. www.northfieldfuneral.com
A GoFundMe page has been established to support VanZuilen’s wife and two young sons at www.gofundme.com/vanzuilen-boys