Steven John Schwen, 75, passed away on March 31, 2026 in Zumbro Falls, Minnesota in the loving care of his family. He was born on May 7th, 1950 in Blue Earth, Minnesota. He grew up riding horses, hunting, and trapping in the woods by his childhood home. He was a Boy Scout, a football player and wrestler, and played piano and French horn. He spent summers working in the family business, at the Schwen’s Ice Cream & Candy Co. factory. After high school, he attended Northwestern University where he majored in Organic Chemistry. In these years, he participated in some well-known demonstrations in the Chicago area, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. During the summers, he would work in northern Minnesota as a Boundary Waters canoe guide. After college, he went on to be in the first class of students at the Mayo Clinic Medical School in 1972. At this time, he was living in Oronoco on a back-to-the-land commune known as the G Church. Disillusioned by the practices of Mayo in his final year, Steven chose to leave medical school and pursue a life in the country, where he would earn a living through fine woodworking and organic farming, subsist by the fruits of his labor, and live in accordance with his moral principles. He purchased the Oak Center General Store, and the 14 acres it’s situated on, to bring this dream to life. It was here where he raised a family with his first wife, Nan Hiers. The couple raised animals and grew and sold organic fruits and veggies throughout Minnesota. A fervent political activist his entire life, Steven had an active role in the early organic farming movement, advocated passionately for utilizing renewable energy, and was a prominent figure in the cooperative movement of the 1980s, co-founding Full Circle Organic Growers’ Cooperative. With Nan’s leadership, they also began “folk forum”, a seasonal series of live music, movie screenings, political speeches, and discussions. The multi-faceted, lively scene that was the Oak Center General Store, Earthen Path Organic Farm, and folk forum continued through Steven’s second marriage to Susan Draves, with three additional children and a step-child. It is thanks to Steven’s grit and determination that the historic Oak Center General Store building, with a legacy of over 100 years of craft and community, lives on as a beacon toward the future.

He is survived by brother Kent (Jodi) and sister Sue (Roger Johnson), his children Liz Voz (Jesse Downs), Sam (Becca Fuller), Joe (Rebecca), Jesse (Kari), Gus (Laci McBride), Isaiah, Hope Schwen (Cy Benson), step child Sunny, and grand-children Otto, Ivan, Leland, Harlan, Chandler, Evan, Chase, Silas, Hazel, Rita, Abel, Obed, Rosalind, Aliza, and Isaac, and great-grand-child Reuben. Steven was preceded in death by his parents, Maurice and Marvel Schwen.

Arrangements are by the Mahn Family Funeral Home, Anderson - Peterson Chapel in Lake City. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com