Chad Wayne Forte, age 55, of Lakeville, MN passed away at his home on Friday, November 4, 2022.
A Celebration of Chad’s life will be held on Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 12:00 noon at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation (4565 Pleasant St SE, Prior Lake) with Rev. Diana Hunstad presiding. Visitation time will be held from 11:00 – 12 noon prior to services.
Family and Friends who can’t attend in-person are invited to stream the service via Zoom at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89744185302
Chad will be missed by fiance, Charlotte Blom; children, Andrea (Charles) Haglund, Shane (Nicole Bower) Forte, Erik (Madelyn Robertson) Forte, Brittany Bunes, and Joseph (Lindsay) Troop; grandchildren, Abigail, Lucas, Aubrey, Aliya, Alivia, and Adley; parents, Clark and Pamela Forte; siblings, Troy (Lynn) Forte and Shauna (Paul) Leo; and many other loving relatives and friends.
He is preceded in death by grandparents, Lester and Harriet Forte and Mavis and LeRoy Rieb.
Chad Wayne Forte was born to Clark and Pamela Forte August 20 th , 1967 in Crookston MN. At just 3 months old he traveled with Pam to Germany where his father Clark was stationed in the Air Force. This is undoubtedly where his adventurous spirit stemmed from. In Germany he became a big brother to Troy. Being only 14months older than your younger brother can be tough when you’re learning to play. He often heard from his mother “Don’t be a meanie” which led him to nickname Troy “NeeNee”. He spent the first 3 years of his life there and even learned to speak some German as he was learning to talk.
At 10 years old Chad became a big brother again to his sister Shauna. Him and Troy told Pam if the baby is a girl not to bring her home. Of course, the first time he laid eyes on her his mind changed in an instant and they became the best of friends.
Chad started his school years in Omaha Nebraska – then continued in Rome New York, Fairborn Ohio, Lincoln Nebraska and graduated in Jamestown Ohio. He spent a lot of time through the summers making memories on his grandparents’ farm in northern MN.
Chad started his career in computer programming as a tape hanger at Dayco in Ohio. Chad had an incredible drive to learn and soaked up knowledge in his field from experience, mentors and in his own time from books. Much of what made Chad successful in his career was his ability to identify what needed to be learned, teach himself then teach others. He worked for numerous companies with many job titles ending his career as a Senior Developer – or as his children and family lovingly called him “A computer geek”.
Chad met the love of his life Charlotte late in life, although their time here together was too short, they enjoyed and made the most of every moment they had together. From the moment they met they both knew they were made for each other; and shortly after they started dating, they began building a life together. You could often find them singing and dancing like children, laughing the night away or sitting on the patio enjoying a cup of coffee and each other’s company.
Chad has three children: Andrea, Shane and Erik. When they were young, he allowed each of them to grow, explore, make mistakes, and learn from them in their own way. He always trusted them to trust their own abilities – whether it was letting them steer the purple toboggan through the woods piled three high, spending summer days climbing trees, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen or applying for a new job he never doubted his children’s capabilities.
Chad made an incredible impact on his Grandchildren Abigail and Lucas and had a special bond with them both. He loved retelling Abigail stories calling them “Abi-Tales” and racing to be the first one to send a picture of a beautiful sunrise in the morning or of his favorite squirrel chipper. He played with cars, colored and had tea parties with them and enjoyed their favorite snack at Grandpas – Vanilla Wafers. He waited patiently for updates after their doctor appointments (sometimes even a whole ½ hour!). When he would get a call saying “Can you believe Abigail/Lucas…” his response was always an enthusiastic “Yeah! I can!”
The most notable bonding time spent with his kids would be the days and nights spent on the sailboat. He sailed all over Minnesota but spent most of his time on the boat in Pepin Wisconsin. Countless memories were made there that will never be forgotten. I can say with confidence that his spirit is sailing the skies watching over each one of us every day.
Due to an accident in 2016 Chad was no longer able to drive. After a lot of time and research into electric bicycles he decided on the RadPower Radwagon bike. This bike was his passion as it gave him so much independence and freedom. He made upgrades to this bike and enjoyed talking about it every chance he got.
In August 2021 he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. His options were to let the cancer run its course – or fight like heck. Without hesitation he decided to fight and went through multiple surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy with Charlotte by his side every step of the way. He was brave and strong through every setback, never losing his will to keep going or positive attitude.
