Seth Schwartz

Seth J Schwartz born August 18, 1981 died the morning of November 27, 2024 at the young age of 43. A lifelong battle with addiction to alcohol and drugs, caused his organs to fail and ultimately led to his early death. His battles are finally over and he is at peace. A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on Monday, December 23 at Bayview Freeborn Funeral Home. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service.

 The task of putting together the right words to capture a person in an obituary is always a difficult one. To do this for Seth has been almost impossible. He was a unique and complex individual who often described himself as an “enigma wrapped in a conundrum”. Seth was intelligent, artistic, charming, witty, and compassionate. He was a fighter and a survivor . He was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. Though his addictions didn’t define who he was they did define how he lived for most of his life and not mentioning his struggles with this disease would not accurately be honoring who he was. Seth was an adored, son, brother, nephew, uncle, companion, and friend. He was a soldier who served in the United States army. If you only saw Seth as an alcoholic and addict, that is your loss because he was so much more than that. Among a broken system that has hardened itself against addicts and continuously fail them, he befriended police officers, doctors, nurses, therapists, and many others who advocated for his recovery up to the very end. Seth possessed a certain kind of appealing charisma that made it easy to befriend virtually everyone he met and leave you with an everlasting impression, no matter how short the encounter. 

Seth was known to play the role of the entertainer. Often performing, telling jokes, and attempting to lift the spirits of everyone around him. His efforts to be the life of the party would often lead to more than just fun, however. It typically included lots of alcohol and party favors, which commonly brought along chaos and created many dangerous situations. Seth often struggled with how to break free from the expectations of him fitting that role and get away from the destructive behaviors and chaos the substances would lead him to create. In his rare moments of vulnerability, giving his authenticity the ability to shine bright, it would reveal a person underneath who was caring sensitive, and compassionate. A man who was harder on himself than anyone else ever could be. A person who genuinely loved others and desired to be loved as well. Someone who saw the beauty and all the good this life had to offer, even while struggling within its depths of darkness. Seth had an artistic talent that was showcased in a wide variety of ways. He was constantly creating and expressing himself through countless artistic mediums. His creativity obviously displayed through an array of colorful tattoos, his everchanging hairstyles, and bold tastes in fashion. His talents were as natural as they were diverse. At a young age, Seth developed a love for music. As he grew, so did his musical talents and his insatiable craving to learn about it. He enjoyed a wide variety of musical genres and would explore them, along with the bands he liked, until he knew everything there was to know about them. Seth definitely liked living on the “B” side of music. If given the opportunity he would gladly invite you into his diverse musical world and share with you his favorites and new or underground discoveries.

 The disease Seth battled, slowly ripped away every single one of these talents and the joys they brought to him. They were replaced by pain and suffering and left a huge void full of regrets. Alcoholism and drug addiction wasn’t a lifestyle he chose to adopt or an easy way out of anything. There were many times a tearful Seth would’ve done anything to break free of the hold they had on him. Especially over these last two years, his disease showed him the incredible power it contained and brought him to its darkest places. No matter how hard or long he fought against the grip that it had on him, ultimately, it was never going to let him go. 

Whether it’s alcohol or drug addiction, addiction is addiction, no matter the substance. Seth never wanted to live a life of pain and suffering. Never intended to hurt those he loved and cause them to put up impenetrable boundaries of protection. He did, however, choose to continuously fight for a better and happier life that could be waiting for him by living a life of sobriety. He fought all the way to the end, never surrendering or giving up. He remained hopeful that he could still win his battle against alcoholism and addiction until they finally decided to quickly steal his life away earlier than he ever wanted. His bravery to relentlessly battle his disease, and his legacy of love and compassion, will live on in the hearts of his family and friends forever. His suffering has finally ended, and he will eternally rest in peace. 

Seth is survived by his significant other, “ handler” and caretaker, Jennifer Ordalen. The last four years of Seth‘s life she courageously supported and fought beside him, brought him to 100s of doctors appointments, was responsible for saving his life multiple times and never stopped believing in his ability to conquer his addictions and live a longer happier life, even when all the odds were stacked against him. She stayed by his side up until he took his very last breath. Seth is also survived by his stepfather Kenny Stencil; sister, Kara, Waldron and her children; Uncle, Aunt & Godparents, Loren & Eileen Tolzmann; lifelong friend who he considered his brother, Dan Behrens; several half siblings, and many cousins. 

He is preceded in death and now reunited with his mother, Joanne Stencil; father, Paul Schwartz, all of his grandparents, and many Uncles and Aunts. 

If you are struggling with addiction, know that you are not alone. Know that it’s never too late for a fresh start and you have thousands of people praying and rooting for you. If you are reading this with judgment, it’s time to educate yourself about this disease because that is what it is, a disease. It’s not a choice or a shameful weakness. Chances are very good that someone you know is already struggling with it. They need and deserve your empathy and support. If you work in one of the many institutions which addicts often pass-mental health units, rehabs, hospitals, detox, jails, courts-and you treat them with the compassion and respect they deserve, Thank you! If you are someone that only sees an addict, junkie, alcoholic, thief, or liar, instead of the fellow human being standing before you that is in need of your help, please seek a new profession now.