Dr. Frederick A. Townsend

PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, IS THE DEATH OF HIS GODLY ONE.

Psalm. 116:15

On Sunday October 19, 2025 Dr. Frederick Allen Townsend passed from this life and began experiencing eternity and “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9)! Our Dad now understands and realizes the overwhelming fullness of Christ’s love for him, no more pain, confusion, and no more sorrow!

Our Father was born in Minneapolis, MN to Dr. DeWayne and Clara Townsend, on September 14, 1946. He and his older brother grew up in Brooten, MN, attended Trinity Lutheran Church and loved participating in high school football, basketball, track and theatre productions. He was very academically gifted and thrived in math and the sciences. He loved helping others and from a young age, wanted to follow the medical profession of his father. His father was a country doctor, who would occasionally have him in tow while making house calls. He saw many surgeries on kitchen tables.

He attended St. Olaf College, where he met and married his future wife of 57 years, Sarah Tweet. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School, becoming the 4th generation “Dr. Townsend” in their family lineage. His medical career was vast with a foreign exchange internship in Europe, residency at the Mayo Clinic, and joining the Indian Health Service in Shiprock, NM, living on the Navajo Indian Reservation. They absolutely loved the Navajo people!

Our parents relocated and settled in beautiful Alexandria, MN with their four children, where Dr. Townsend had the honor of working at Broadway Medical Center/Sanford and the Douglas County Hospital/Alomere serving in Internal Medicine for 45 years. During this time, he was awarded a fellowship with the American College of Physicians, demonstrating exceptional dedication and service to the field of internal medicine and selected for the Bush Medical Fellowship, developing skills in nuclear cardiology. We grew up hearing countless stories of the compassionate staff, wonderful nurses and doctors who worked wonders loving on and caring for people.

In addition to being a physician, our Dad was very active. He loved traveling all over the world with our Mom, some highlights were to South Africa, Iceland, Jordan, Europe, and even making a trek down the Nile River. He also enjoyed downhill skiing, camping in the Boundary Waters, watching his children play sports, and spending countless hours on the lakes throughout Alexandria pulling his kids and grandkids waterskiing and tubing! But what he loved most was the relationship he had with the Lord, being a servant to others, and investing his resources where people could access the Gospel and come to know Christ. He was an incredibly generous and giving man, some of which was dedicating himself as a board member to The Unity Foundation, North Star, and Mount Carmel Ministries. He also helped launch a men’s Saturday morning prayer group, which still meets to this day.

Our Dad also deeply loved our Mom and through the thick and thin of life’s joys and challenges, they espoused a commitment and dedication to work through hard times that honored the Lord and his children. What a priceless gift it has been for our family to have him! Lord, thank you for letting Fred Townsend be our dad! We deeply miss him.

He is survived by his wife, Sarah; children, Amy (Ryan) Paolucci, Kari (Scott) Lempka, Teryl (Brent) Urke, and Dr. David (Kerri) Townsend; 12 beautiful grandchildren: Paige, Grant, and Reed Paolucci, Charlotte, Dean, and Rosemary Lempka, Emma, Marc, and Elise Magaard, Jason Urke, Boden and Luke Townsend.

Funeral services are 11 a.m., on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at Alexandria Covenant Church in Alexandria with Rev. Trinity Opp presiding. Music is provided by pianist, Naomi Sands and vocalist, Sue Edwards. Interment will take place at Kinkead Cemetery.

The visitation is 4-7 p.m., on Tuesday, October 28th, at Lind Family Funeral Home in Alexandria and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.