Skellenger, Duane J. "DJ" (1936-2018)

SKELLENGER, BAKKE, VASKE, YOCOM, BOWMAN, KUHFUS

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 5/11/2018 at 18:36:52

Duane J. "DJ" Skellenger
February 29, 1936 - March 19, 2018

Duane J. “DJ” Skellenger, 82, of Lake Mills, Iowa, died on Monday, March 19, 2018, at his home in Lake Mills, Iowa.

Born on February 29, 1936, in Lake Mills, Iowa, Duane had five siblings: Leona, Margaret, Bill, Virginia, and Don. His dad, Leo, worked as a carpenter at the time. His mom, Ruth, took care of the kids at home. All the kids, too, had nicknames formed from their first and middle name initials. Duane and Don were DJ, Margaret, MJ, Bill, BJ, Virginia, VJ, and Leona, LJ. Virginia also went by Ginny. Later, I found out that Don went by Donnie Ray.

Duane enjoyed school. He played a lot of sports, built homes and broke a window in shop class, sang in musical productions, and acted in class plays. Sometimes, he, even, farmed instead of going to school. In addition, he liked to wear jeans and high-top shoes which were the trends back then. Girls, on the other hand, wore dresses that went down to their ankles. Imagine that!

At home, Duane had a lot of chores. He had to mow the lawn, rake leaves in the fall, clean the bathroom and his room, drive the tractor, and after he turned eleven, work on his grandpa’s farm. At age ten, he drove tractor and a 1946 Ford car. First, Duane helped on grandpa’s farm and did carpentry work with his dad. At the same time, some of Duane’s uncles went off to war, but he didn’t. All of his uncles, Reuben, Lynn, Virgil, and Floyd, survived. Through the Skellenger family, they’ve been farmers and carpenters as a tradition. I’m even getting into carpentry.

As a freshman in high school, he dated his classmate, Martha Bakke. They used to go out to a coffee shop for malts and burgers. They fell in love. Duane was eighteen when they married. Subsequently, they had a son and two daughters: Alan, Joan, and Jodie. Then, they divorced a few years later. At about this time, Duane attended Iowa State University in Ames for two whole years.

He married Anne Vaske at age sixty when he was coaching basketball and she was teaching. With Anne, he had a son: me, Ryan. DJ went on a lot of trips with Anne. They traveled to all fifty states except Alaska as well as to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and various other places in Canada.

As an adult, DJ worked as a carpenter, farmer, fireman, electrician, and appliance man. Indeed, he was a most talented appliance man. He could fix any appliance.

DJ loved to frequent drive-in restaurants and drive-in movie theaters. He liked sitting in his car and watching a movie on a huge tarp in an open area such as a parking lot or an old clearing somewhere in the country.

DJ liked a lot of modern inventions including dial phones, black and white TVs, computers, modern appliances of all kinds, and car accessories such as power steering, power brakes, and automatic transmission.

Five things DJ would want people and kids to know about him: 1) No Smoking, 2) No Drinking, 3) No Stealing, 4) No Drugs, and 5) No Swearing. He, even, told me that. Moreover, he wanted people to remember him as a hard-working guy who was willing to help anyone in need.

Those left back in this world include his children, Ryan, of Lake Mills, Alan, Joan, and Jody; his sisters, Leona Yocom, Margaret (Gaylord) Bowman, Virginia (Alan) Kuhfus; and his brothers, Bill Skellenger, Don (Ann) Skellenger, Uncle Virgil Skellenger, from Houston, Texas; as well as many cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leo and Ruth, and first wife, Martha Bakke.

Funeral service will be at 1:30 PM, Saturday, March 24, 2018, at the Asbury United Methodist Church, 107 East Main Street, Lake Mills, Iowa 50450, with Pastor Doug Domokos officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, Friday evening, March 23, 2018, at the Mittelstadt Funeral Home, 902 East Main Street, Lake Mills, Iowa 50450, and again for one hour before the service at the church. Burial will follow at Sunnyside Cemetery in Lake Mills, Iowa. The family suggest that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Asbury United Methodist Church Kitchen Fund.

Written by: Ryan Skellenger

Mittelstadt Funeral Home, Lake Mills, Iowa, 2017.

Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen