Dunning, Robert Logan 1919-2005

KRAMER, KNOWLES, DUNNING, HERMAN, MCCOY, KNOWLES, KABAN

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 12/16/2005 at 14:45:01

Robert Dunning

Robert Dunning, 86, of Waukon, Iowa, died Friday, November 4, 2005, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon after an 11-year battle with multiple myeloma cancer. A memorial service will be held Thursday, November 17 at 11 a.m. at the Farm Bureau Building, 14 First Avenue NE, Waukon.

Robert Logan Dunning was born April 13, 1919, to David and Mamie (Kramer) Knowles in Bemidji, Minn. Mamie’s cousin, Elizabeth (Frank) Dunning cared for Bob while his mother was being treated for tuberculosis. Robert’s mother died when he was about six months old and Frank and Elizabeth continued to raise Robert and eventually adopted him.

As a teenager, Bob helped his father Frank run “Dunning Guernsey Dairy”, delivering milk to customers in Waukon. He was very proud of being able to make his daily milk deliveries and “never once being late to school.” His father had great confidence in him, giving him a great deal of responsibility at a young age. At 16, he allowed Bob to use dynamite to clear farmland, once using 100 pounds of dynamite under just one stump to leave a hole deep enough to put a car in lengthwise! After high school graduation, Bob began farming with his father full time on a farm five miles south of Waukon.

Bob married Olive Herman October 30, 1943. They took over the farm from Frank and Elizabeth and farmed together for 43 years. They reared and education three children. As a dairy farmer interested in increasing efficiency and productivity, he traveled to southern Illinois to look at an innovative herringbone milking parlor design featured in a farming magazine. After taking measurements of the equipment (as well as his cows), he drew up the plans and did the majority of the building himself in 1958.

He farmed with innovative and creative ideas, repairing, modifying, and building much of his own machinery and equipment. On one occasion, he created a five-bottom plow (made from two three-bottom plows) pulled by two tractors operated by one driver. A Minneapolis Moline “U” tractor was attached to an International Harvester 400 tractor by taking the front wheels off and setting the axle on the hitch. The trailing tractor was operated from the lead tractor with extensions of the hand clutch and throttle. His son, Phillip, remembers that “this was quite an outfit” and will never forget the thrill he got from forgetting to throttle down as he made a sharp turn at the top of a hill, completely flipping the plow!

When Bob retired in 1981, he continued his tinkering and inventing. He sawed lumber from his farm woods and cured and planed it to build beautiful furniture for his family and friends. He loved and was very proud of his highly modified one-man sawmill.

His creativity often emerged in surprising ways. Family and friends were astonished when they received their first Christmas poem a few years ago. As he weakened from cancer, he refused to give up. When he couldn’t lift his legs 12 inches, he built a ladder with six-inch steps. When he couldn’t lift an object, he made yet another winch. One of the most recent inventions was a device designed to depress the nozzle of an aerosol can. It is a fascinating design that works well.

Bob was a quiet and intensely private man, with strong values which he passed to his children. His love of the land is indicated by his wish to have his ashes spread on the farmland he loved.

He was preceded in death by his parents, adoptive parents, and his wife Olive on May 12, 1983.

Survivors include two daughters, Susan (Robert) McCoy of Somersworth, N. H., and Gail Dunning of Omaha, Neb.; a son, Phillip (Linda) Dunning of Florissant, Mo.; one brother, Stanley Knowles of Chillicothe, Ohio; and special friend Vivian Huffman of Waukon; three grandchildren, Christopher Dunning, Wendy (Jon) McCoy Kaban, and Brett (Julie) McCoy; and two great-grandchildren, Alex and Ryan Kaban.

Memorials may be directed to the Dunning family or to an organization of your choice.

Waukon Standard, November 16, 2005