Darold Bless

HARTWIG, THOMPSON, MORASCH, TAETS, FINNESGAARD

Posted By: Joyce Kuntz (email)
Date: 11/7/2024 at 16:45:12

St. Ansgar Enterprise March 83

DAROLD CHRISTIAN BLESS
September 8, 1928 – Feb. 28, 1983

Darold Christian Bless was born to Clarence C. Bless and Dora (Hartwig) Bless on September 8, 1928 in Otranto, Iowa. He was baptized into the Christian faith on September 30, 1928 into the congregation of St. John Lutheran Church east of Grafton, Iowa. He confirmed his faith publicly on March 29, 1942 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar. His confirmation verse was Psalm 27;4: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple.

He married Helen Thompson on June 14, 1952, They lived and farmed in the St. Ansgar area, moving to the village of Toeterville in 1974. Darold was active in church and community affairs. He was well known in the area for his humor and his concern for older people and the disadvantaged. He was serving as the Treasurer of St. Peter Lutheran Church at the time of his death. He died suddenly in a collision south of Toeterville on February 28, 1983.

He was preceded in death by his father Clarence and one sister, Frances (Bless) Morasch.

He is survived by his wife Helen of Toeterville, his daughters Bonnie Bless of Fairbanks, Alaska and Kimberly (Mrs. Mike) Taets of Clarion, Iowa, his sons Dennis and Douglas, presently enrolled at Iowa State University in Ames, two foster sons, Cam and Binh Van Lam at home, his mother Dora Bless of St. Ansgar, one brother Howard of rural St. Ansgar, one sister, Doreen (Mrs. Carl) Finnesgaard of Kenyon, Minnesota, and many nieces and nephews.
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Darold Bless, 54, of Toeterville, was killed outright Monday, February 28 at 9 a.m. A quarter of a mile south of Toeterville at the intersection of A43 and a county gravel road when the 1975 pickup he was driving was in collision with a 1975 truck driven by Lee Hansen of rural Austin, Minn.

According to word received from the Sheriff's office, Bless was traveling north on a county gravel road and came into the path of the westbound truck driven by Hansen. The pickup truck driven by Bless was a total loss, and damage to the other truck, owned by Lawrence Hansen of Austin, Minn. Was estimated at $10,000. Sheriff Richard Jahnel and Deputy Sheriff Russell Hintz investigated. It was Mitchell county's second highway fatality of the year.

Funeral services for Mr. Bless will be held Thursday, March 3 at 1:30 p.m. At St. Peter Lutheran church, Toeterville, with the Rev. Charles Bunk officiating. Burial will be in the St. Peter Lutheran cemetery.