Duane "Dewey" Aldrich

Duane "Dewey" W. Aldrich, age 82, of Maple Grove and formerly of Willmar, passed away Wednesday evening, Feb. 12, at the Arbor Lakes Senior Living Center in Maple Grove, after a lengthy struggle with dementia and Parkinson's Disease.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar. Interment will be at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Arrangements are with Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar.  www.petersonbrothers.com

Duane was born on September 29, 1937, in Pipestone, Minnesota, the son of Albert and Mary (Warnick) Aldrich.  The family moved to Willmar where he attended school, played football, basketball and baseball for the Willmar Cardinals 1950’s teams and graduated in 1955.  In 1959, he graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a business degree.  Dewey married his high school sweetheart, Barbara at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar.  They made their home in Minneapolis where he was employed at General Mills for over 17 years.  He was later hired by his cousin in the insurance business and started his own agency in Plymouth which he retired from in 1999.  Dewey and Barbara moved back to their home town Willmar where he could enjoy fishing on Green Lake and playing rounds of golf with his friends at Eagle Creek Golf Course.  During his years in Willmar, Dewey was active in the Willmar Noon Lions, Willmar Community Foundation, Willmar Cardinal Pride Committee and the Stephens Ministry program at Calvary Church.

Duane is lovingly remembered by his wife, Barbara of Maple Grove; three daughters, Deb (and Brian) Ranney of Plymouth, Beth Beacom (and special friend, Jay Brichetto) of Golden Valley and Amy (and Mark) Diaz of Burbank, CA.; eight grandchildren, Melissa Ranney (and Jordan), Tom (and Emma) Ranney, Kristina Ranney (and Patrick), Megan (and Drew) Breyer, Vince Beacom (and Kate), Erin Beacom, Anna Ruemelin and Andrew Diaz; and one great grandson, Luca Vincent Breyer.  Also surviving is one sister, Jean Schmidt of Raymond; one niece, Laurie (and Dave) Dykema and two nephews, Mike (and Bobbie) Schmidt and Randy Schmidt, besides other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Dewey’s family extends their deepest appreciation to the angel caregivers at Arbor Lakes Senior Living in Maple Grove for their tender loving care.  Blessed be his memory.