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Edward Dovenbarger was born Dec. 19, 1923 in Mitchell, S.D. His mother Elsie immigrated to the U.S. from Sweden. She met Roy who was a carpenter while he was building a barn on her sister's farm in Nebraska. They married when she was 19 and he was 45. They moved to South Dakota where Roy homesteaded a farm in Indian country. When Ed was 4 years old, the family moved back to York, Nebraska. They lived there until Ed was 11 and his father died. Ed's mother moved to Ida Grove, Iowa.

When Edward was 17, his mother remarried and his sister, LaVerna was born. World War II was on and he joined the Air Force and was stationed in Chico, California. He served in the Air Signal Corp. at Malibu Beach. During this period, he was injured in a serious motorcycle accident in Merced and his squadron shipped to the South Pacific without him. After an 18-month hospitalization, he was released and able to walk, something his doctors predicted he would never be able to do.

Ed then moved back to Nebraska and worked in the family business, a chicken hatchery. It was on a trip to Minnesota with a buddy that he met Dorothy at the Spring Lake Park Baptist Church. Ed piloted his small airplane north to Minnesota several times to court Dorothy, and they married in 1951. They lived in Fremont, NE and raised three daughters.

After retirement they moved to Rice Lake, Minnesota where they enjoyed their home on the lake and all of their special friendships there. Ed was active in the Maranatha church there and each spring assisted in the congregation's effort to open Arrowhead Bible Camp. He was also active in the city's Kiwanis club and joined their annual effort in planting thousands of petunias on the city's main street.

In an effort to be closer to the Minneapolis airport, as well as closer to Dorothy's siblings, they moved to Lindstrom and lived next door to the Lakes Free Church. They enjoyed their last big vacation to Germany.

Edward was preceded in death by his parents, and wife Dorothy (Freeman). Survivors include his sister, LaVerna Smith of Littleton, CO; daughters: Suzanne Alley of Ft. Collins, CO and grandchildren Grace and Claire; Jane (Robert) Rech of Athens, IL and grandchildren Allyssa and Lucas Brown; and Judy Maushart of Golden, CO and grandchildren Elizabeth and Joseph.

Edward and Dorothy who died May 31, 2010, would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary January 26.

They will be greatly missed by their friends and family.

Funeral Wednesday, Jan. 5, at Grandstrand Funeral Home in Lindstrom, with Pastor Jim Fann, officiating. Interment with Military Honors in Crystal Lake Cemetery, in Minneapolis.

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