MARSHALL - Marshall lost both a businessman and a staunch supporter of the community this weekend.
Marshall resident Steve Strautz, an area realtor and banker who also took on leadership roles in many community organizations, died Sunday night at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He was 58.
"Steve was really a person who believed in the community," Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said Monday.
Byrnes worked together with Strautz on the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, which Strautz chaired. "He was always ready, not only to volunteer, but to be a leader," said Byrnes.
Strautz had a long history of getting involved within the Marshall community.
For the past 10 years, he was a broker with Wilson O'Brien Realtors and worked in the banking industry before that. He was also a part of many civic and booster organizations. Strautz was the chairman of the Marshall Industries Foundation, and in the past had served on the Marshall Hospital Board and the Marshall Municipal Utilities Commission.
In 2006, Strautz helped found the Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee.
As chairman of the group, he helped advocate improvements to the Minnesota Highway 23 corridor to state and national legislators.
"Everyone in St. Paul knew him because of his work with the Transportation Committee," said Marshall Chamber of Commerce Director Cal Brink.
Brink and Marshall resident David Sturrock, who also worked with Strautz on the transportation group, said he was a hard worker, and someone who had a genuine commitment to his community and to his family.
"He wasn't really looking for glory or attention," Sturrock said. "He was someone who took on a lot and accomplished a lot."
"I think it's a shock for everyone," Byrnes said of Strautz's death. "Certainly our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
Services for Strautz will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at First Lutheran Church in Marshall.