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Duane C. Buenzow, age 82, passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 11, 2022, at Porta Caeli House in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was born on September 14, 1939 at his family home in Bremer County, IA to Alfred and Mercedes Buenzow. Duane graduated from Sumner High School in 1957 and later joined and served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1962 and continued serving in the IA National Guard until 1965. He married Verla Meyerhoff on June 5, 1960 in Klinger, IA. He is survived by his wife, Verla, three sisters, Audrey Frisch, Rosalind Moore and Janet Kleiss, his children Julie Scott and James Buenzow and his wife Laura, and multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Duane grew up on the family farm near Buck Creek, IA where he attended Country School before the family moved to a farm outside of Sumner, IA. He graduated Sumner Public Schools in 1957.

Duane’s first job out of high school was at the Summer Tire Shop in 1958. In 1964, Duane went on to work for Thermogas Company in Sumner starting as a Serviceman and was later promoted to a Service Managers Position in Clinton, IA from 1974 until 1975. In 1975, his ambitious nature allowed him to be promoted to the Thermogas District Sales Manager in Washington, IA where he worked for 7 years before being transferred to Thermogas Company of Fruitland in 1982 where he expanded his role to include District Sales and Assistant Regional Manager until 1995. In 1995,

Thermogas/MAPCO expanded their safety department and transferred Duane to the Tulsa, OK central office where he was promoted to a Safety Coordinator position for the southern region. Duane was able to support facility safety audits and conduct safety compliance seminars for facility staff. In 1997, Duane was promoted to MAPCO’s Manager of Safety. Duane retired from MAPCO in 1998 and began consulting work from home for MAPCO and other pipeline companies conducting Plant Compliance Audits for an additional 2 years.

Following his retirement, Duane and Verla moved to Mission Texas in 2004 full time to a retirement community to enjoy golfing, playing cards, and square dancing. In 2014, moved to Edinburg Texas (Monte Cristo Golf and Country Club) another retirement community to enjoy the same activities. By the end of 2017, it was time to move back to Oklahoma to be closer to family. Broken Arrow became their new home and is where the family is today.

Duane loved his country, his community and his family and served each of them equally. As the family moved throughout Duane’s life, he poured himself into his community as a volunteer Fireman and joining the Jaycee’s in Sumner, IA to becoming an active member of the KAABA Shriners in Washington IA, dawning the Kermit the Frog character suit to entertain children during parades and special events.

Duane was an active and devoted Christian, volunteering at his Church, Fellowship Lutheran, changing light bulbs and filters. He worked with the men’s group building ramps for the handicap and making several trips to Guyana to repair and restoring buildings for small communities there.

He supported his family through serving his Church and personal time. Duane enjoyed spending time with his family and grandchildren playing games and cards. He especially enjoyed square dancing and golfing with his bride, Verla.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 P.M., Thursday, September 22, 2022, at Fellowship Lutheran Church, 6727 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK. If you are not able to attend in person, a livestream and rebroadcast of this Memorial Service is available at http://tinyurl.com/flctulsa.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his memory to Porta Caeli House, 2440 N. Harvard Ave., Tulsa, OK 74115. https://portacaeli.org/

If you would like to send flowers or a memorial gift, please have them delivered no later than Wednesday, September 21st to either Fellowship Lutheran Church, 6727 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK 74133 or to Moore Funeral Home, 9350 E. 51st St., Tulsa, OK 74145.

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The Southeast Iowa Union, an employee-owned source for local, and state news coverage for Washington, Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield Iowa.