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Duane “Dewey” Donald Schmeichel

June 8, 1939-Jan. 1, 2018

Duane Schmeichel, 78,

Minot, died Monday,

January 1, 2018, at Knapp

Medical Center in

Weslaco, TX.

Duane was born June 8,

1939, in Minot, ND, to

Gustave Herman and

Thelma Lola (Hunter)

Schmeichel. He grew up

in Minot and as a young

man assisted his father

with the operation of his

Standard and Mobil ser-

vice stations. He graduat-ed from Minot High

School in 1957.

Duane joined the U.S.

Marine Corps January 16,

1958. He served stateside

and overseas in Okinawa,

Japan. He earned an

honorable discharge Janu-

ary 13, 1961 at the rank of

Corporal E-4.

Duane was joined in

marriage to his high

school sweetheart, Lois

Schmidt, on October 10,

1959. Following his mili-

tary service, he returned

to Minot and gained em-

ployment with

Northwestern Equipment

and later Butler

Machinery, traveling

across the state as a heavy

equipment mechanic. In

1973, Duane and Lois pur-

chased the Avis Rent A

Car franchise in Minot. A

few years later they pur-

chased the Avis franchise

in Grand Forks and then

started an Avis operation

in Williston. They retired

in 1981 with the sale of all

three franchises.

Duane and Lois loved

traveling together, often in

their motorhome. They

were fortunate to visit all

50 states, in addition to

traveling to many foreign

destinations. They spent

winters in South Texas

from 1989 to present.

Dewey’s hobbies in-

cluded restoring old cars.

His pride and joy was the

1939 Packard seven

passenger touring sedan

that he used in both his

daughters’ weddings. He

also enjoyed playing golf

and was a past member of

the Board of Directors for

the Souris Valley Golf

Course Men’s League.

Woodworking and build-

ing furniture kept him

busy in his later years.

Meeting at Minot’s

Hardee’s Restaurant each

morning to discuss the

news of the day with his

coffee buddies was also

something he really en-

joyed.

Duane was a member of

St. Paul’s Lutheran

Church in Minot.

Duane is survived by:

his loving wife of 58

years, Lois Schmeichel,

Minot; daughters, Shelly

(Jon) Sauer of The Wood-

lands, TX and Jodi (Mark)

Anderson of Minot;

grandsons, Andrew

(Marissa) Sauer, Devin

Sauer and Carter Ander-

son; granddaughter, Brit-

tany Anderson; great

granddaughter, Emma

Sauer; sister, Doris (El-

don) Hill of Northfield,

MN; as well as numerous

nieces, nephews and

cousins.

Duane was preceded in

death by: his parents;

granddaughter, Autumn

Anderson; sisters, Joyce

Macy and Phyllis Stahl;

and brother, Robert

Schmeichel.

Funeral Service: 11:00

a.m. Friday, January 12,

2018, at St. Paul’s Luth-

eran Church, Minot.

Interment: Rosehill

Memorial Park, Minot,

ND.

Visitation: Thursday,

January 11, 2018, from

3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.

at the Thomas Family

Funeral Home, Minot.

Memorials are pre-

ferred to St. Paul’s Luth-

eran Church or MD

Anderson Cancer Center.

Those wishing to sign

the online memorial regis-

ter or share memories are

invited to use the expres-

sions of sympathy section

at www.thomasfamily

funeralhome.com.