Obituary: Charles W. Siftar, owner of Tangletown Bike Shop

Ditching a high-stress corporate job, Charlie Siftar made a midlife change a few years ago to open a south Minneapolis bike shop, where he could pursue his love for bicycles and the people who ride them.

Turning wrenches at Charlie's Tangletown Bike Shop, Siftar became known as the neighborhood bike guy who made friends easily while volunteering at mountain bike races or sharing his vast bike knowledge with employees and customers.

Siftar's rise in the local bike scene ended suddenly when he collapsed while biking with a friend Feb. 17 at Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve. He was 57.

"He was very giving of his time and super enthusiastic of everything," said Phil Bode, coach of the Washburn High School mountain bike team. Siftar was the team mechanic and a chief booster, leading Wednesday night rides or traveling to team races to keep the bikes running smoothly.

"The enthusiasm was unbelievable," said Bode.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a degree in packaging engineering, Siftar worked for years as an engineer and salesman. He wasn't happy, said his mother, Frances Siftar, and when he left that career, he walked into a bike shop in 2009 looking for work.

"He was underpaid, overqualified and all that stuff," said Seth Stattmiller, owner of Recovery Bike Shop in Minneapolis. "I was like, 'This is ridiculous; I can't afford you.' " A lifelong fan of cycling who had both raced and collected bikes, Siftar was not the typical new employee.

In 2012, Siftar and Stattmiller bought the old stock of a failed bike shop in Tangletown, and a year later Siftar made it his own.

"I have sort of rearranged my life to focus on my passions in large part because of Charlie," said Stattmiller.

High schooler Meg Healy stopped into Charlie's soon after it opened. She wanted to build bikes, and after she kept showing up, Siftar gave her a shop apron and put her to work.

"It was always cool," said Healy, now in her first year at college. "I could make a mistake and Charlie would show me how to fix it. … Working at that shop was much more like a family."

Siftar soon learned about the newly organized Washburn team, and he became an early supporter. Team meetings were held at Charlie's, and Siftar and his wife, Rebecca, followed the team on camping trips to mountain bike trails or to races.

Siftar died on his mother's birthday, and the shock of it sent his father to the hospital with a nonfatal heart attack. Still, Frances Siftar said she was grateful that her son had had some "beautiful experiences" lately, including the visit of his daughter and granddaughter from Texas, and a scuba diving trip to Honduras with his wife. Siftar's three siblings were in town for Frances's birthday when he died.

"They were here, which I thought was just miraculous," she said.

A week after Siftar died, friends went on a memorial bike ride, pedaling through Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul and beyond.

"Charlie would have loved it, of course," said Stattmiller.

In addition to his wife and siblings, Siftar is survived by his children Nate and Tessa, and a granddaughter, Milly.