David Walter Bangerter

David Walter Bangerter, age 89 of Bemidji, Minnesota was taken home by his Lord and Savior on April 28, 2024.  He was born October 29, 1934, on a farm in Redwood County Minnesota to Mae & Walter Bangerter.

Together with his family of 12 children he spent his first 18 years living and growing up on the farm where he was born. He attended his first 12 years of school at Wabasso Public School, where he graduated in 1952.

In the fall of 1953, he took a job with Minneapolis Moline on Lake Street in Minneapolis and worked there till spring of 1954, when he was drafted by Uncle Sam. He spent the next two years in the service for his country. After basic training in Fort Leonard Wood MO. & Ft. Knox Kentucky the rest of his service was spent in Germany.

David married his high school sweetheart Lois Leora Fennern in 1954 after basic training in Ft. Leonard and then they spent the next two years apart.  Together we had three wonderful children, Dean 1957, Renee1960, Traci 1966. Together we had 38 wonderful years until the Lord took her out of her bout with cancer in 1992.

In the fall of 1956 after David returned from service, he enrolled in Minnesota State University where he got his BA degree in 1959. From there he took a job in Mountain Lake, MN teaching Industrial Arts, World History, & Geography. In the summers 1962,63,64 he got his MA at Northern Colorado University. During the late 60's and early 70's David rounded out his formal education with 45 hours of postgraduate classes at Bemidji State University.

In 1965 David resigned from Mountain Lake and took a job at Rosemount, MN teaching Industrial Arts. He taught there and served as department chairman for the next 27 years until Lois passed and then retired. He then moved to their lake home on Leech Lake at Walker MN. He lived alone for the next eight years and for excitement he traveled aboard at least once during each of those years.

After living alone those years he finally got up enough courage to ask a lady he knew to a Christmas party, only because his daughter Traci worked for her during her college summers, and he sometimes bought things in her store. As it turned out Kay Dewey and David were married in October of 2000. What a wonderful endearing relationship it turned out to be. With it came three more daughters and one more son along with 10 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren to add to his 10 grandchildren and 17 great grands.

The family that David joins again are his first wife Lois, and second wife Kay, 3 brothers, 2 sisters, and his parents. Those he leaves behind to cherish his memory are his son, Dean (Krista) Bangerter, daughter, Renee (Scott) Rosa, daughter Traci (Greg) Dravis, stepdaughter, Blair (Mark) Driscoll, stepdaughter, Karyn (Jim) Flesch, stepson, Brad Dewey, stepdaughter, Amy (Patrick) Hardesty, six sisters and sisters in law, numerous grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

A celebration of David’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Friday, May 10, 2024, at Hope Lutheran Church in Walker.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service also at the church.  Pastor Matthew McWaters will officiate.  Inurnment will be held in Forte Snelling National Cemetery at a later date.

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