Chad Alan Schiller

Chad Alan Schiller, 65, of Cottage Grove, MN, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 10, 2026 at his home after a long and courageous battle of cancer.

Chad was born on March 24, 1961 in Redwood Falls, MN where his small town country boy roots took hold. He loved farm life and from a very young age worked alongside his brothers and dad producing a strong work ethic embedded into his DNA. Chad was the son of Wayne and Ramona Schiller. He graduated from Redwood Falls High School in 1979 and will be remembered as a very talented three-sport athlete in football, wrestling and baseball. After graduation, Chad went on to continue using his strength, his hands, and his strong work ethic in construction and garage door installation. He ended his career proudly driving semi hauling hot oil for road construction. He loved figuring out how things worked and fixing things when they didn’t.

Chad had an extremely charming smile and a gregarious and friendly personality that would fill the room. He could talk to just about anyone and make you feel comfortable conversing like you’ve known each other for years. Whether it was his one-liners that left you speechless or doubled over in laughter, you never really knew what Chad would say next. His “wild-card-unpredictability” is what made hanging out with him so fun. He loved to banter, tell jokes and find ways to challenge your beliefs. He had a lot of great ideas and opinions circling his brain and at just the right moment he would share them with you. His personality was an eclectic mix of stubbornness, kindness, gusto, grit, dare-devil, and uncanny wit. He enjoyed sports, hunting, going to the gun range with his collection of rifles and handguns, old cars, hard rock music, boating on the lake, watching Nascar, hanging out with his family, and doing various home improvement projects around the house.

Most of all, Chad was an incredibly strong warrior when it came to his health. He defied so many odds battling cancer four separate times. He looked cancer in the face for 17 years and said, “Not today!” His inner strength and perseverance is truly unmatched and left many doctors on his team mystified and realizing that Chad’s inner strength was going to run this show.

Chad is survived by his loving wife Tina of 35 years; their children Cale Schiller (fiance Kelsey), Nicole Hurrle (husband Adam); grandchildren Ashleigh Hurrle, Caroline Hurrle, and Alex Hurrle; siblings Jeff Schiller (wife Linda), Randy Schiller, Kristi Hagert (husband Bryan), Kim Maurer (husband Rick) and Kelly Hillier (husband Craig); and many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and other loved ones.

He was preceded in death by his parents Wayne and Ramona Schiller, grandparents Ernest and Johanna Wolf and Otto and Elsie Schiller, Father-in-law Russ Hendrix, several uncles, aunts and a few cousins.

A Celebration of Life Memorial will be held in April. More details to come. The family wishes to express their sincere gratitude to the hospice staff, doctors, nurses and surgeons who were all a part of Chad’s medical team for their compassion and support over the last several years.