Funeral services for 61-year-old Arnold “Arnie” Duerksen of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 2, 2015, at Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. The church is located at 301 9th Street North.
Interment will be in the First Mennonite Church Cemetery, north of Butterfield, Minnesota. The cemetery is located at 65401 320th Street in rural Butterfield.
Pastor Galen Kauffman will officiate at the services.
Visitation will be Sunday, February 1, 2015, at Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel, located at 420 10th Street North, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. A second visitation will be at the church the day of the funeral, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel, is handling the funeral arrangements.
Arnold Duerksen passed away on Thursday, January 29, 2015, in Mountain Lake.
Arnie was born to John and Tina (Krause) Duerksen on May 22, 1953 at the Mountain Lake Hospital. He was baptized in 1968 at the Gospel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. In 1971 he graduated from Mountain Lake Public High School and then proceeded onto Mankato Vocational Technical College, where he got a degree in baking.
In 1975, he was joined in marriage to Judy Penner. They started their lives together in Delft, Minnesota and later moved to the Mountain Lake area. Arnie worked at various agricultural jobs over the years, while raising three kids, Tracy, Troy, and Traves.
Arnie enjoyed camping, fishing, snowmobiling, and hunting, however one of his top priorities was to spend time with his family, which he enjoyed more than words can explain. He loved going on family vacations, and seeing his grandkids brought a smile to his face – even until he took the journey home.
Arnie is survived by his wife, Judy of Mountain Lake; a daughter, Tracy (Todd) De Jong of Orange City, Iowa; two sons, Troy (Dixie) of Mountain Lake and Traves (Susan) of Fairmont, Minnesota; seven grandchildren – with the eighth on the way – Samantha, Tylor, Shayne, and Brayden and Tylor, Danielle, and Treyton; his mom, Tina of Mountain Lake and two brothers, Art (Pat) and Arden (Simona) and many relatives.
He was preceded in death by his dad.