Duane K. Gossman

THOMPSON - Duane Gossman, 84, of Thompson, died Thursday, December 27, 2012 at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa in Mason City.

Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM, Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at Petersen Lund Funeral Home, 505 N. Clark Street, Forest City, with Fr. Dennis Miller of St. James Catholic Church officiating.

Inurnment will be in the spring at Graceland Cemetery in Buffalo Center.

Visitation will be held from 1:30 to 3:00 PM, Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at Petersen Lund Funeral Home.

Duane was born in Shell Creek Township, near Platt Center, NE on April 11th, 1928 to Leo and Julia (Kaipust) Gossman. He was the only son, and his siblings included older sisters Ivona, Marjorie, and Evelyn, and younger sisters Arlene and Phyllis. In 1944 when Duane was 16, the family moved to a farm that Leo purchased five miles SW of Thompson. Duane became very integrally tied to the farm and its upkeep, and did not return to school but devoted his time to improving the property and assisting his father.

He met Lila M. Arndt at a skating rink in Blue Earth. Lila later moved to an apartment in Thompson and eventually the two were married on June 7th, 1950 in the Priest's house of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Buffalo Center. They remained on the family farm, moving briefly across the section until his parents retired from farming at which point they returned, and Duane remained there the rest of his life. To this union were born five children, Duane Jr., Bridget, Diane, Linda and Kent. After his parents' death, Duane purchased part of the original acreage. The family milked cows, raised chickens, beef, hogs, and any other animal enterprise Duane felt he could excel. This developed a solid work-ethic in his children, and a strong sense of values.

Duane was an enterprising Jack-of-All-Trades and was a self-taught handyman in whatever he set his mind to. He especially liked aspects involving mechanics. Along with being a full-time farmer, Duane also worked at a variety of jobs. He was a self-employed mechanic in a business called Duke's Service. He worked many years part-time at Van Horn's in Buffalo Center, as well as a delivery driver for Winnebago. He did both custom combining and corn shelling for farmers in the area. After selling off most of the farm animals, he took a job at Pamida, as well as Casey's and drove school bus for Forest City Schools. Duane had an uncanny knack of striking up conversations with people he didn't know everywhere he went. This was especially enjoyable for him when he frequented area casinos.

His hobbies included collecting antiques, collectable cars, fixing and repairing vintage tractors, riding motorcycle, appliance repair, rebuilding automobiles. He also would custom build trailers from scratch doing most of the calculations in his head. Some were quite elaborate and complicated in scope. He was also a wealth of knowledge and was filled with many stories including keepers passed down by his father such as "Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves".

Duane is survived by four children, Bridget (Jerry Hanson) Neilon of Northwood, Diane Penning of Byron, MN, Linda (Mark) Kemmerer of Clear Lake, and Kent (Terry Welsh) Gossman of Renton, WA, 10 Grandchildren (Michael, Dawn, Wade, Brianne, Brandon, Brett, Trevor, Mitchell, Kyla, and Morgan). 6 Great-Grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, 3 sisters Marjorie, Evelyn, and Phyllis, his son Duane (Bud) Jr., his Grandson Jarrett Roberts, and a special friend Shirley.