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Obituary for Donald L. West
Donald Leroy West passed away on July 10, 2015, at age 87. He was born January 25, 1928, at home in Luck Township, Wisconsin, to Worthy and Mabel (Hoffman) West. His brother, Robert, was born five years later. The boys reveled in the outdoor life, and under their fathers guidance learned to fish, hunt, and trap animals at an early age. They benefitted from the love and nurturing of the extended West and Hoffman families and the West Sweden community.
Donald graduated from Frederic High School in 1946, and went to work for the Polk County Highway Department. He was drafted into the Army and served in the Korean War. The men he served with were truly his friends for life. Many of the children of that tight-knit group remain family friends.
He returned to Frederic after his Army service and resumed work for the Highway Department, until his retirement in 1984.
He met Norma Jean Petersen of Milltown at the wedding rehearsal for his friend Roger Friberg and Normas friend Louann Johansen. Donald gave Norma a ride home that night, and they were married one year later on August 21, 1954, at the West Denmark Lutheran Church.
He relished his time spent fishing, gardening, hunting, trapping, making wood, picking berries and taking care of the property where they lived in West Sweden. Favorite spots away from home included Crex Meadows, and innumerable lakes and rivers ranging from tiny Grimhs Lake in West Sweden to Eagle Lake in Ontario. He was a quietly dependable, generous and thoughtful person, adverse to the spotlight but observant and concerned for the needs of his family, friends and neighbors.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 61 years, Norma, their two daughters, Arlene (Kevin Bevis) and Andrea (Michael Kowalski); grandchildren Martin, Lillian and Charles Bevis, and Elizabeth and Vivian Kowalski; and two sisters-in-law: Donna Pedersen of Luck and Bonnie West Upton of Kalispell, Montana. His brother Robert and his parents preceded him in death.
Memorial Service:
July 15, 2015 at 2 p.m., with visitation one hour preceding
St. Lukes United Methodist Church, Frederic
Officiated by Pastor Freddie Kirk
Cremains will be interred at the West Sweden Town Cemetery at a later date.
An online guestbook is available at www.rowefh.com or www.wicremationcenter.com . Arrangements are entrusted to Rowe Funeral Home in Frederic, 715-327-4475 and the Northwest Wisconsin Cremation Center in Milltown, 715-825-5550.
