John Timm

John Allen Ervin Timm, retired farmer of Utica, died peacefully in his home on the morning of Tuesday October 21, 2025 – just a month before his 94th birthday.

John was a lifetime resident of Utica Township. He was born in rural Utica on November 24, 1931, to Philip and Alma (Simon) Timm. They moved to the home he lived in for the rest of his life in 1941. He attended the Utica Public School through 4th grade and graduated from Lewiston High School in 1949.

John was proud of his military service in the United States Army. He served his country for two years, from 1953-55. He was inducted at Fort Snelling in Minnesota and underwent basic training at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. John was then transferred to Fort Belvoir in Virginia and finally to Camp Prince in West Virginia. He worked in the motor pool as a mechanic on military vehicles and received an honorable discharge with the rank of corporal. John remained lifelong friends with his Army Master Sergeant John Walton and his wife Millie.

John was introduced to his future wife, Doris Linnea Leaf, through her friend Marilyn Deters. Doris and Marilyn were both public health nurses for Olmsted County. John and Doris were married at First Baptist Church in Rochester Minnesota on June 17, 1961. They were married for over 50 years, until her death on April 10, 2012, and were blessed with four children – Marilyn, Arthur, Daniel, and George.

John was a farmer his entire life. He raised Black Angus cattle and crops with his father and his brother Everett, and later with his son Dan. He loved plowing the fields with a moldboard plow, watching the soil turn over, and breathing in the smell of freshly plowed earth. He looked forward to the seasonal rituals of planting and harvesting his crops and solving the mechanical challenges of maintaining the machinery. John loved animals, especially dogs, and usually had one at his heels as he went about his work.

John and Doris practiced hospitality and opened their home to many guests over the years, including foreign exchange students from Colombia, Norway, and Sweden. John enjoyed the trips he took with Doris, as well as reading and watching Westerns, playing cards, and celebrating holidays and family birthdays. He played the trumpet and in his younger years, enjoyed making music with his family.

John is survived by his daughter and three sons – Marilyn (David) Weissing of Utica, Arthur (Carolyn) Timm of Fair Oaks California, Daniel (Ellen) Timm of Utica, and George Timm of Rochester Minnesota; as well as by grandchildren – Johanna, Erik, Friedrich, Ernst (Emily), Ursula, Katharina, and Nikolaus Weissing; Phil and Brian (Amanda) Timm; Becci and Evan Timm; and great-grandchildren – Blaise and Rose Weissing. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Isabelle Timm and cousin Al’s wife Jan Timm.

John was preceded in death by his parents Philip and Alma Timm, wife Doris, brother Everett Timm, and grandson Karl Weissing. He was the last of his generation on both sides of the family – preceded in death by all of his Timm cousins, including Earl Timm, Esther Evers, Morris Timm, and Allen Timm; as well as all of his Simon cousins, including Milton Simon, Lorraine Anderson, Elmer Simon, and Karolyn O’Brien.

Visitation will be at Hoff Funeral Home in Saint Charles Minnesota from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday October 31st.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday November 1st at Our Savior’s Moravian Church in Altura Minnesota, with a visitation one hour prior. Burial will immediately follow at Bethany Moravian Cemetery, Utica Township.