Chad R. Justesen, MD

Chad Justesen, MD, retired Fargo neurosurgeon, died June 29th, 2026, suddenly and unexpectedly at home.

The oldest child of LeRoy and Joan Justesen, Chad Royle Justesen was born in St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota on January 29th, 1966. He arrived in the early hours of the day with temperatures outside near 30 degrees below zero, and winds whipping the snow into a blizzard. His father ran outside to start the car every hour so he could make it back to their home in Kindred after the birth. LeRoy managed the Farmer’s Union Co-Op in Kindred, and Joan was an obstetrics nurse at the hospital.

Chad spent his pre-school years in Kindred and Embden, North Dakota, but by the time he started school the family was living in Fargo. He went to school at Carl Ben Eielson, Horace Mann, Ben Franklin Junior High, and graduated from Fargo North High in 1984. After high school he attended North Dakota State University and graduated with a B.S. in pharmacy in 1989. Chad worked at Hornbacher’s Northport grocery store from 1982 to 1986, then as a student pharmacist at St. Luke’s Hospital until he graduated from NDSU. He was proud of the fact that he paid his own way through college by working and spreading out his course load into the summer sessions. He played drums in the jazz bands of North High and NDSU, and also for the Straw Hat Players at Minnesota State University in Moorhead during the summers.

From 1989 to 1993 Chad attended the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in Grand Forks, North Dakota. His rotations during that time took him to Medcenter One and St. Alexius hospitals in Bismarck, Trinity hospital in Minot, and the VA and Dakota Hospitals in Fargo. He also spent several months working at St. Aloisius in Harvey, his mother’s home town.

In the summer of 1993 Chad moved to Chicago to start his internship in general surgery and his residency in neurosurgery at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center. For most of that time he lived in Little Italy, a few blocks from the medical centers. While in Chicago he worked at Rush, Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, and Cook County Hospital. He was named surgical intern of the year while at Rush. Of all the awards and commendations he received over the years, however, he was most fond of getting the Terminator Award from the chief surgical residents, acknowledging him for not letting anything stand in the way of getting the job done.

After residency Chad moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he worked as a neurosurgeon at Rockford Memorial Hospital. He enjoyed his brief time there, but the combination of his father dying and his wish for a less urban life brought him back home to Fargo. Starting in 2002 he was a neurosurgeon at Meritcare Medical Center, then Sanford Health after the merger of the two systems. Over his years of practice he lost count of how many people he operated on, but he did a wide range of cases, adult and pediatric, including brain tumors, aneurysms, spinal disease, trauma, and peripheral nerves. His favorites were brain and spinal tumors, and cervical spine fusions.

Chad met Shawn Christianson in 2008 when she moved back to the Fargo area after finishing her MBA in health care administration. They married on November 16, 2012 in their home in south Fargo. Chad retired from neurosurgery in 2011. He had a wide variety of interests and hobbies over the years, but was particularly satisfied by the genealogy books he published for his family, involving years of interviews, photograph collection, and research. He was a masterful photographer, constantly refining his craft. He had a lifelong interest in learning new things. Most recently, he set out on a quest to read literature from every era, and was taking many on-line classes. His passion regarding literature often made him the teachers favorite student.

In addition to his superior intelligence, he had a gift of a very sharp memory with deep knowledge of it seems everything. He was the family go to for information and advice. Instead of ChatGPT, we had our Chad.

Chad Justesen was preceded in death by his father, LeRoy Carroll Justesen. He is survived by his loving wife, Shawn Christianson. He is also survived by his mother, Joan Kathryn (Krapu) Justesen, brother, Jerad (Kathryn) Justesen, niece Megan Justesen, and nephews Blake and Brady Justesen. According to his wishes, he will be cremated and buried in the family plot at Riverside Cemetery, Fargo.

A celebration of his magnificent life will be scheduled in the near future.