Duaine Kalkbrenner

Duaine Kalkbrenner, age 71, of Atwater, died Sunday, April 21, at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Monday, April 29, at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Willmar.  Interment will be at St. John Lutheran Cemetery in rural Atwater.  Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at Peterson Brothers Atwater Funeral Home in Atwater and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday.

Duaine LeRoy Kalkbrenner was born July 7, 1947, in Litchfield, Minnesota, the son of Wilfred and Lydia (Witte) Kalkbrenner.  He grew up on the family farm in rural Atwater.  He graduated from Atwater High School in 1965 and then attended the Willmar Vo-Tech.  On June 27, 1970, he married Joyce Hanson and they lived and farmed on the family farm in rural Atwater.  Duaine retired from farming in 1990 due to a back injury and then worked selling insurance, as a real estate appraiser, USDA meat inspector, and crop adjuster.  He later became a rural mail carrier for the Sunburg Post Office and retired in 2010.

Duaine was a former member of St. John Lutheran Church, where he served on the school board and church council, and a current member of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Willmar, where he served as an usher and on the church council.  He was also a member of the Harrison Township Board for many years.  He enjoyed hunting, fishing and snowmobiling and especially enjoyed his fishing trip to Alaska and snowmobiling trip to Yellowstone National Park.  He had a special love for his grandchildren and especially his great-granddaughter, Paisley.

Duaine is survived by his wife: Joyce of Atwater, MN; two children: Eric (and Sarah) Kalkbrenner of Little Falls, MN and Lynae Kalkbrenner of Litchfield, MN; two grandchildren: Brianna (and Matthew) Schmiedeker of Atwater, MN and Emma Whitmore of Virgilina, VA; and a great-granddaughter: Paisley Schmiedeker.  Also survived are a brother-in-law: Howard Hanson of Willmar, MN; a sister-in-law: Ardis Erickson of Willmar, MN; and other relatives and friends.  He was preceded in death by his parents.