Duane Francis Halvorson

Duane Francis Halvor-

son, 67, Minot, died Tues-

day, February 25, 2020 at

his home due to compli-

cations of Lewy Body

Dementia and Parkinson’s

Disease.

Duane was born on

April 22, 1952, in Rugby,

ND, a son of A. Melford

and Theresa (Bishoff) Hal-

vorson. He was raised on

the farm near Knox, ND,

attending elementary

school there. He then at-

tended Rugby Public

School, graduating in

1970. He then attended

the University of North

Dakota in Grand Forks,

ND, graduating in 1973

and attaining his Masters

Degree in 1987.

Duane started his teach-

ing career at Linton High

School in Linton, ND. He

taught for the next forty

years from villages in

Alaska, International

School in Nairobi, Kenya

to an American/Canadian

School in Caracas,

Venezuela that needed ac-

creditation for the oil

companies. He began

teaching at Minot State

University, Minot, ND, in

the fall of 1991 in the

Humanities area. He said

he couldn’t count the

number of students he

had on campus and at

Minot Air Force Base. His

students remembered him

for getting them to read

again and writing papers

that they had to correct

again and again until they

corrected all the errors.

He wanted them to all

know how to write. He be-

lieved you could not write

unless you read. You

needed to see how other

people wrote. The more

you read the better writer

you became. Duane loved

school, taking classes

each semester at Minot

State University while

teaching. He had a

Master’s Degree plus 90

semester hours. His addi-

tional hours were in Biol-

ogy and other sciences.

Debra Kunkel and

Duane met in 1991 when

Duane returned to North

Dakota. On the 4th of July

of 2010, Duane decided it

was time to tie the knot.

Duane planned and did

everything for the wed-

ding, which took place on

August 7, 2010.

Duane enjoyed garden-

ing from a young age. At

the age of three, he was

lost at the farm for many

hours until his mother

saw his blonde head in

the corn field checking

crops. He continued to

garden throughout his

life. He planted a two acre

garden each year, giving

most of the produce away

each year to family,

friends and anyone who

would take it. Duane and

Deb planted thousands of

trees on the farm trying to

give back for the wildlife.

Music was his life!

Starting piano at age six

and continuing while he

was teaching at the

university, Duane prac-

ticed five to six hours per

day to be able to play at

concert level. He loved

his grand piano and his

pump organs. He started

the trumpet when he

started at Rugby Public

School. He always gave

Tilman Hovland the

credit for enjoying playing

the trumpet. He also loved

playing the accordion.

Duane had a great voice

and sang with any choir

that would let him. He en-

joyed years of singing

with the Minot Chamber

Chorale and the Renais-

sance Feast. He loved

singing in the Messiah

each year.

As anyone who met

Duane knows, he loved to

collect antiques. He

changed every couple of

years the items he collect-ed. He had a number of

shows displaying collecti-bles, from the Taube

Museum to the Minot

State University Art

Center. His latest show

was his collection of

aluminum items. He was

so very proud of that

show.

Duane also loved to

travel and was lucky

enough to travel to 59

countries (of which three

no longer exist).

Throughout his travel, he

met many people who

have remained friends.

Duane is survived by:

his wife, Debra; his moth-

er, Theresa Halvorson,

Bismarck, ND; sisters, Jan-

ice (John) Hoiland, Minot

and Glenburn, ND, and

their stepdaughter Lyndee

(Tyler) Heser; and Judith

(George) Railsback,

Bismarck, ND, their chil-

dren Sarah (Logan) Rein-

del and their children

Emma, Brettley and Hen-

ry; Nick Railsback, Jake

Railsback, and Karla

(Douglas) Johanson and

their children Katie

(Kevin) Moore, Mary,

Chris and Rachel; broth-

er, Mark J. Halvorson,

Bismarck, ND; nieces,

Joanne (Jon) Carillo and

girls and Brenda Halvor-

son and son; in-laws,

Donna and Lenny Noyes,

Louisville, KY, Rachel

Gerle, Sierra Vista, AZ,

Judy and Dwight Holen,

Mesquite, NV, Dennis and

Nancy Kunkel, Lakeville,

MN, and Dan Rostad, Ra-

pid City, SD; Godmother,

Betty Axtman, Rugby, ND;

and numerous nieces,

nephews and cousins.

Duane was preceded in

death by: his father, Mel-

ford Halvorson; brother,

Byron Halvorson; in-laws,

Lester and Anna Marie

Kunkel, Joseph Gerle, Bar-

bara Rostad and

numerous aunts, uncles

and cousins.

Funeral: Saturday,

February 29, 2020 at 11:00

a.m. at Bethany Lutheran

Church, Minot.

Visitation: Friday,

February 28, 2020 from

3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

at Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot, ND

Memorials are preferred

to Bethany Lutheran

Church, Minot, the Minot

Area Symphony, any local

music program or to the

Lewy Body Dementia As-

sociation.

Those wishing to sign

an online guest register

are asked to go to

www.thompsonlarson.com

and share memories.

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot, ND