Current Services

Frederick
01-09-2025

Frederick (Fred) Lee Van Horn, age 60, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, January 9th, 2025 in Sioux Falls, SD. He was born in Wells, MN on September 30th, 1964 to Mary Lea (Stoltz) and Allan Van Horn. Fred grew up on his parents farm in Wells with his older brother, Tom.

Fred graduated from Wells-Easton High School in 1984. After graduating high school, Fred attended tech school in Mankato, MN to study car sales and parts. Following tech school, Fred managed his own NAPA store in Kenyon, MN. He then moved to Mankato and became an assistant manager at the NAPA store there. In the early 1990’s, Fred along with Todd and Trent Weihe had bought into an honor box company which later led to starting up their own vending company called Viking Vending. They successfully ran the company in Sioux Falls, SD for 28 years before selling in January 2022. Towards the end of 2022, Fred began working for Sanford as a courier which was his occupation up until his untimely passing.

In March, 2018, Fred met the love of his life, Lia Valdez. Lia was working part-time at Westwinds Casino in Sioux Falls, SD and Fred was a regular customer there. Fred swooned Lia with his iconic dimples and shy demeanor, and the two were inseparable since. The two of them enjoyed traveling, golfing, spending time with family and friends and watching football. Fred and Lia shared a light-hearted rivalry when it came to his Minnesota Vikings and her New Orleans Saints. On Christmas Eve, 2023, Fred proposed to Lia and she, of course, said yes.

Fred had been an adventure seeker from the day he was born. Growing up, he loved riding motorcycles with his buddies in Wells. Fred also enjoyed spending time with his dad. They enjoyed tinkering around with cars and fixing things around their farm. Fred was an avid NASCAR fan, with Dale Earnhardt Sr. being his all-time favorite racecar driver. Not only did he attend several races with his long-time friend, Mike Ewert, he was always watching them from home as well. Another hobby of Fred’s was collecting NASCAR memorabilia, which grew to be a collection he was quite proud of.

Fred was preceded in death by his maternal and paternal grandparents, several aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides.

Fred is survived by his fiance, Lia Valdez, her children, Brandon Binns and Meagan McGraw, his step-son, Jerrad Dahlager (Brittanny) along with their son, Aiden, both of his parents, Allan and Mary Lea Van Horn, his brother, Tom Van Horn (Sue), his nephew, Adam Van Horn, his niece Melissa Van Horn (Joe Niebuhr) and his great nephew, Rylan Clay.

Celebration of Life/Visitation will be held at Shenanigans Bar and Grill in Sioux Falls, SD on Saturday, January 25th from 12:00-3:00 pm.

Service/Luncheon will be held in Wells, MN at Nasinec Funeral Home and Crematory on Saturday, February 8th. Visitation will be from 10:00-11:00 am. The service will start at 11:00 am with a luncheon to follow.