Mass of Christian Burial for Duane Oftedahl, 67, of Ghent, will be Friday, August 29th 2014, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Eloi Catholic Church in Ghent, Minnesota. Visitation will be held at St. Eloi Catholic Church on Thursday, August 28th 2014, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a Rosary at 4:00 p.m. and a parish prayer service will be at 7:00 p.m. Visitation will continue at the church on Friday from 10:00 a.m – 11:00 a.m. A private family interment will take place at a later date.
Duane Kenneth Oftedahl was born on September 27, 1946, in Canby, MN to Kenneth and Dorothy (Shaw) Oftedahl. He grew up in Cottonwood and graduated from Cottonwood High School. After high school, Duane attended the Minnesota School of Business. On June 29, 1969, he was married to Linda Boerboom at St. Eloi Catholic Church in Ghent. Duane took a job as a bookkeeper for Deutz and Crow. He then took a management job for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad in Tracy and later moved to Brookings, SD. In 1975, he purchased the Engels Insurance Agency in Ghent and began a 38 year career as an insurance agent with Oftedahl Insurance Services and later the Community First Bank (now Bank of the West) in Marshall, retiring in August, 2013.
Duane was a very active volunteer, leader and city spokesman in Ghent. He ushered at St. Eloi Catholic Church, volunteered at Countryside Golf Club in Minneota and for the Ghent Fire Department, among many others that are too lengthy to include. He was also an active member of the Norwegian Mutual Board of Directors.
After a perfect day of golf, a crop check and ice cream, Duane suffered a stroke on Monday, August 25, and died on Tuesday, August 26, 2014, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.
He is survived by his wife, Linda, of Ghent; son Dan Oftedahl of Excelsior, MN, grandsons Jonathon, Carter and Michael; daughter Kris (and Chad) Burt of Walcott, IA, grandchildren Dillon, Layton and Makenna; son Ross of Virginia Beach, VA; daughter Wendy Oftedahl of Washington, DC. Special extended family of Jennifer Oftedahl, Darian Moya, sons Alex and Julian, and Katherine Trease; sister Pam (and Marv) Somers of Spirit Lake, IA, one niece, several nephews and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.He was known for many things, among them for writing poems on special occasions. These poems routinely made fun of himself, his friends and included some politics. Unfortunately, not a single one of these poems would be suitable for clean, family reading found in this obituary. He will forever be missed, but never forgotten.
In lieu of flowers, memorial preferred to Prairie Home Hospice of Marshall.
