A 'Celebration of Life' planned Saturday for missing Moorhead snowmobiler

  Jan Redden met Cole Schwindt when she was 8 years old, and even then, she was smitten. “He was my first crush and only crush,” said Redden, now 32. Schwindt was her big brother’s best friend, and when the boys rode their bikes, she followed – to their annoyance. Years later, Redden and Schwindt started dating and eventually had a daughter together, who is now 10 years old. Memories such as this are what Redden hopes will come out of the “Celebration of Life Service for Cole Joseph Schwindt” that his family is holding at 2 p.m. Saturday. The 34-year-old Moorhead man disappeared Dec. 2 and is thought to have fallen into the Sheyenne River in West Fargo while on a snowmobiling trip with friends. Despite a two-week water search that involved remote-controlled underwater vehicles, multiple dive teams and sonar, authorities have not found his body. His snowmobile was found submerged in the icy river. Redden said Fargo police suggested Schwindt’s family hold a ceremony so they could begin the grieving process, though she admits that’s difficult for those closest to him. “I think for his parents and anybody that’s been really close with Cole, until we find him there’s still hope,” she said. “We know that’s not possible that he’s out walking around somewhere, but … it’s tough to put an end to something when you don’t have a resolution.” Schwindt owned his own business in underground lawn sprinklers called Red River Irrigation, Redden said. He had worked for his uncle’s sprinkler business since he was a teenager, and started his own about two years ago. “Cole was very strong, determined, and when he had his mind set on something, he always went for it,” Redden said. “(His business) was really starting to take off.” Family was also important to Schwindt, an only child. “His mom and dad, they’ve really been struggling,” Redden said of Pat and Heidi Schwindt. Cole Schwindt has two daughters: Morgan Schwindt, 10, and Alexis Haakenson, 18. Redden said her own daughter, Morgan, was “very, very close with her dad.” He went to her dance performances, her choir concerts. “They were pretty much inseparable,” she said. “They were like each other’s best friends.” Redden said she and Schwindt dated on and off from when she was 16 until 2010. Since then, they have been close friends. And for as long as she can remember, he loved snowmobiles. “I have many, many, many pictures of him racing,” she said. Schwindt would ride dirt bikes, too, but “snowmobiles were definitely his passion,” Redden said. “He left this world doing what he loved.”     If you go What: Celebration of Life Service for Cole Joseph Schwindt When: 2 p.m. Saturday Where: Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church West Campus, 3745 Sheyenne Street, West Fargo Info: In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Cole Schwindt Benefit set up at Central MN Credit Union, 1002 Main Ave, Moorhead, MN 56560. The benefit will go toward memorial expenses and an account for Schwindt’s daughters’ college funds.
 Jan Redden met Cole Schwindt when she was 8 years old, and even then, she was smitten.“He was my first crush and only crush,” said Redden, now 32.Schwindt was her big brother’s best friend, and when the boys rode their bikes, she followed – to their annoyance.Years later, Redden and Schwindt started dating and eventually had a daughter together, who is now 10 years old.Memories such as this are what Redden hopes will come out of the “Celebration of Life Service for Cole Joseph Schwindt” that his family is holding at 2 p.m. Saturday.The 34-year-old Moorhead man disappeared Dec. 2 and is thought to have fallen into the Sheyenne River in West Fargo while on a snowmobiling trip with friends.Despite a two-week water search that involved remote-controlled underwater vehicles, multiple dive teams and sonar, authorities have not found his body. His snowmobile was found submerged in the icy river.Redden said Fargo police suggested Schwindt’s family hold a ceremony so they could begin the grieving process, though she admits that’s difficult for those closest to him.“I think for his parents and anybody that’s been really close with Cole, until we find him there’s still hope,” she said. “We know that’s not possible that he’s out walking around somewhere, but … it’s tough to put an end to something when you don’t have a resolution.”Schwindt owned his own business in underground lawn sprinklers called Red River Irrigation, Redden said.He had worked for his uncle’s sprinkler business since he was a teenager, and started his own about two years ago.“Cole was very strong, determined, and when he had his mind set on something, he always went for it,” Redden said. “(His business) was really starting to take off.”Family was also important to Schwindt, an only child.“His mom and dad, they’ve really been struggling,” Redden said of Pat and Heidi Schwindt. Cole Schwindt has two daughters: Morgan Schwindt, 10, and Alexis Haakenson, 18.Redden said her own daughter, Morgan, was “very, very close with her dad.” He went to her dance performances, her choir concerts.“They were pretty much inseparable,” she said. “They were like each other’s best friends.”Redden said she and Schwindt dated on and off from when she was 16 until 2010. Since then, they have been close friends.And for as long as she can remember, he loved snowmobiles.“I have many, many, many pictures of him racing,” she said.Schwindt would ride dirt bikes, too, but “snowmobiles were definitely his passion,” Redden said.“He left this world doing what he loved.”  If you goWhat: Celebration of Life Service for Cole Joseph SchwindtWhen: 2 p.m. SaturdayWhere: Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church West Campus, 3745 Sheyenne Street, West FargoInfo: In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Cole Schwindt Benefit set up at Central MN Credit Union, 1002 Main Ave, Moorhead, MN 56560. The benefit will go toward memorial expenses and an account for Schwindt’s daughters’ college funds.