Donald L. Bakke, 91, of Blooming Prairie, passed away Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 at Prairie Manor Care Center in Blooming Prairie. 

F. Eugene “Gene” Hawkins, 92, of Kasson passed away on Nov. 18 at Mayo Clinic Hospital- Rochester, St. Mary’s Campus.
Gene was born on Nov. 28, 1925 in Oconee, Ill. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945-46. On Aug. 26, 1949, he married Zeta Zubradt in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Gene was employed for 30 years at IBM-Rochester as a parts specialist.

David M. Corcoran, age 76, passed away early Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 2018, at his home in Kasson.

HeatherLynn (Ready) Christians, 48, of Kasson, passed away on Nov.29, in her home after a long struggle with the complications of Scleroderma.
Heather was born Nov. 8, 1970 in Rochester to Roger and Lois (Johnson) Ready. Heather attended and graduated
Byron High School in Byron in 1989 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Paralegal Studies from Winona State University in 1993.

Leo Fredrick Maas, 79, devoted and beloved husband, father, and grandfather was gloriously called home by his Father in heaven on Nov. 29, 2018. Leo was born on March 20, 1939, the son of Paul and Emma (Krey) Maas in Wasioja, MN. He graduated from Lyle High School in 1957. In 1957 he joined the National Guard and was honorably discharged in 1959. In 1958 he moved to Claremont and started working at the Claremont Lumber Yard.

Terrie Rud, 55, of Hayfield, passed away on Dec. 1, 2018, at Mayo Clinic Hospital St. Mary’s Campus in Rochester.
Terrie was born on Oct. 14, 1963, the daughter of David and Gloria (Duran) Sotelo in Lancaster, Calif. She graduated from high school in Palmdale, Calif.

Roger Brent Butler of McGregor died Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 at Methodist Hospital in Rochester.
He was born Oct. 23,1952 in Owatonna to Emil and Lorraine (Cain) Butler. He grew up on the family farm near West Concord andmoved to McGregor 49 years ago has resided there since. He was a graduate of McGregor High School.

To my knowledge there are no official records regarding the state’s oldest farmers. But I have to believe Westfield Township located on the southern end of Dodge County is home to two of the state’s oldest.

The book report has been a necessary evil for middle school students and teachers for decades. The concept is a simple one in which a student reads a book and is assigned to describe the story to their teacher to show comprehension. In most cases, the book report is a cut and dry assignment that comes and goes, but in one Kasson-Mantorville Middle School classroom, they decided to take that a little bit further.