Posts Tagged ‘CY’

Splooshing and Rejoicing

August 2, 2010

Today I was home alone after having a tear-filled and fun-filled weekend with family and friends. We buried my dad’s (Deane Gunderson) ashes at a family service on Friday. On Saturday morning we had a community memorial service followed by unwinding with family and friends at Roger and Dan Allen’s Bud Barn* in Rolfe, Iowa. (Roger and Dan are such salt-of-the-earth very, very special friends of my dad; they were instrumental in helping make it possible for my dad to live on the farm until his first fall in May.)

In-between the two services, on Friday was the unveiling of a 3′ x 3′ granite plaque honoring my dad. (Roger and Dan had the idea of the plaque several months ago. The original plan, before my dad passed away, was that Rog and Dan and my family would surprise my dad with the plaque earlier this month.)**

Also, on Friday evening we had a “tour” of Gunderland (the farmstead where my dad lived) with Bill periodically being tapped as a tour guide. Later that night a bunch of us played the won’t-let-you-be-inhibited-game of Quelf.

So, today being at home by myself was the first opportunity for reality to start setting in. My emotions splooshed all over the place with me missing my dad yet knowing that I’ve always been so fortunate, including, well…just getting to comfortably be with him so much and learn from him. I know the bottom line is…..”This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Here is my dad's 11 1/2-foot-tall statue of Cy located in Rolfe, Iowa. In the foreground are my dad's seven grandchildren. To the left is the 3' x 3' granite plaque that was unveiled this past Friday. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

On my t-shirt is an image of my dad's Cy statue...the same as the statue on the plaque. (Click on photo to enlarge plaque text.)

I’ll get on the ball and post the remainder of my conversation with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard. Over time I’ll certainly have more photos and information about my dad’s and mom’s lives, as well. (Obviously, I’ll post much more about my mom’s watercolors.) For now, here are a couple of photos from Friday’s plaque unveiling. (Oh, and…if you want a fun game, for sure, Quelf is it!)

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In case you missed my dad’s obituary, including links to various articles about him, click here.

*At the Bud Barn site’s home page you’ll hear song lyrics written in 1984 explaining a little about the Bud Barn. The Bud Barn was originally at the farmstead where my dad was born in 1918. The barn was moved into Rolfe in 1982.

**The plaque is there for all to see…up close and “personal.” If you have a chance, I hope you’ll stop by to see it. Even if you are a Hawk fan I think you’ll appreciate my dad’s art of design and welding.

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

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Posted in Deane Gunderson | 4 Comments »

Deane C. Gunderson (Obituary, 1964 Fort Dodge Messenger Article, and Links to Additional Articles)

July 21, 2010

Daddy at the age of 88 in 2007. He looked just like this (including the sparkle in his eyes) until within days before he passed away on July 1st, 2010. The only difference from this photo and seeing him in “real life” was he typically had his shirt collar buttoned and was a true blue Iowa Stater wearing his self-handcrafted ISU bolo tie! (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Deane C. Gunderson, age 91, died on Thursday, July 1, 2010, at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

Deane Charles Gunderson, son of John Christian Gunderson and DeElda (Lighter) Gunderson, was born on September 16, 1918, in Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa.  He graduated from Rolfe High School in 1935 and received B.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering (1939) and Mechanical Engineering (1940) from Iowa State College.

On July 23, 1941, Deane Gunderson and Marion Abbott were married in Ogden, Utah.  They resided in Waterloo, Iowa, for nearly four years while Deane worked as an engineer for the John Deere Tractor Company.  In 1945 Marion and Deane moved with their three young children to the farm southwest of Rolfe where they continued to live for six decades.

Deane was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, president his senior year and president of the House Corporation for 24 years.  He was active in the Republican Party, Community Chest and Lions Club, and a Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League.

Deane was a member of the Shared Ministry of Rolfe.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Rolfe State Bank.  He was involved in public education for 25 years, having served on the Rolfe Community School District Board of Directors from 1966 to 1981, and as a Director and Treasurer of the Iowa Association of School Boards from 1971-1991.  He also served on the Board of Governors of the Iowa State University Foundation.

In 1980, Iowa State University awarded Alumni Recognition Medals to Deane and Marion.  He was an avid Cyclone fan and in 1975 created an 11½-foot, welded sculpture of Cy that stood at the north end of the ISU football stadium for many years.  In 1981 Iowa State named Deane as Cy’s Favorite Alum.

During 1975-1977, Deane wrote a weekly column, “Bubbles in the Wine,” for The Rolfe Arrow.

His interests included farming, education, mathematics, welding, land surveying and farm drainage systems.  He specialized in creating larger combinations of farm machinery* for increased production per farm worker.  He seemed to have friends wherever he went and enjoyed engaging them with his stories.  He was proud of his children and delighted in his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  He was a generous person, encouraged others in their endeavors and was noted for pointing out life’s wonders, including Sputnik, the Pythagorean theorem, bean seeds germinating, a fox den in a creek bank, and the West Bend Grotto.

Deane was preceded in death by his wife, Marion, his parents, and one son, Christian Gunderson.  He is survived by his son Charles Gunderson and wife Gloria; daughters Clara Hoover and husband Harold, Helen Gunderson, Martha Carlson and husband Michael, Margaret Moore and husband Jeffrey, and Louise Shimon and husband William; seven grandchildren: Christina Gunderson, Timothy Gunderson, Kevin Carlson, Joshua Moore, Jonathan Moore, Abigail Shimon and Kathryn (Shimon) Moon; three great-grandchildren: Michael Williams, Addison Valletta and Jackson Johnstone; and several cousins.

A memorial service will be held at the Shared Ministry of Rolfe at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 31.

In lieu of flowers, Deane requested contributions be made to the Rolfe Lions Club (P.O. Box 101, Rolfe, Iowa 50581).

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*If you have time, I hope you will click TWICE on this photo to read this 1964 Fort Dodge Messenger article about one aspect of my dad’s engineering. (With clicking on the photo just once, the text will likely be too small to read. This is posted with permission granted by The Messenger.)

Daddy’s obituary will be in today’s (July 21st) edition of the Pocahontas Record-Democrat. It will also be in this Sunday’s (July 25th) edition of the Fort Dodge Messenger, the Ames Tribune and the Des Moines Register. Sometime later I’ll post a bunch of photos of Daddy; in the same post as his obituary somehow just didn’t seem to work for me.

If you are able to attend Daddy’s service and luncheon afterward, please be sure to let me know you are there. (I felt so bad that I missed some people who were at Mother’s service.) Also, if you can’t attend the service but think you will be in Rolfe later in the day on the 31st or sometime that weekend, it would be nice if you’d email (mariongundersonart@gmail.com) or call me to let me know; maybe we could work out a way to have our paths cross.

(Cy’s Favorite Alum)

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

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Posted in Bubbles In The Wine, Deane Gunderson, Iowa, John Deere, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe | 6 Comments »

Cy’s Favorite Alum With His 11.5-foot-tall Cy Sculpture

October 12, 2009

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Deane Gunderson, Cy and Jackson in Rolfe, Iowa near the Bud Barn. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Deane Gunderson, Cy (the statue made by Deane) and Jackson in Rolfe, Iowa, near the Bud Barn. The “rest-of-the-story” about Cy is below. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Today Jackson (my grandson) and I went to just outside of Rolfe, Iowa, where my 91-year-old father, Deane Gunderson lives. Dan and Rog Allen, loyal friends of my father, saw to it that my dad took Jackson and me for a drive in one of their tractors (John Deere, of course).

Jackson, my dad and I also went into Rolfe to see the Cy that my dad built in 1975. Cy now resides near Rog’s and Dan’s Bud Barn in Rolfe, where there is also their “World’s Largest Clydesdale Hobby Horse.” Lastly, the three of us visited the Rolfe Public Library with which Mother was so deeply involved for thirty-five years.

In the photo above, if you were looking down from an airplane, you’d see that the boulders design (created single-handedly by Dan) is in the shape of a cyclone.  You’d also see that there are steps on the far side, behind Cy.  Also, on the right side of the point boulder, nature has created its own red cyclone-shaped image.  In case you didn’t already notice it, this natural image is more easily visible if you enlarge the above photo.

Immediately below is one story about Cy.  This article was prepared for RAGBRAI’s 2007 ride through Rolfe.  It is a sweetheart of a story. Clicking on the photo will provide “large print” sized text.

Microsoft Word - D.C.G. RAGBRAI Cy doc for FedEx Kinkos[1].doc

(Click photo to enlarge.)

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My dad passed away in 2010, approximately eight months after this post was published. His obituary is here.

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The Perfect Football Evening (depending on how you look at it)

September 4, 2009

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Iowa State, 34 --- North Dakota State, 17, September 3, 2009. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Iowa State, 34 --- North Dakota State, 17, September 3, 2009. (Click photo to enlarge.)

I’m mostly clueless about football, so shouldn’t express an opinion about the Iowa State team’s performance last night.  However, I do have a strong opinion that it is almost sacrilegious when AC/DC blaring painfully loudly (to the point of speaker distortion) drowns out the sound of the Iowa State fight song.

Early in the game when the band played the fight song (with no AC/DC competing this time), there were only a few people in our section that stood up and clapped.  When doing a quick scan, it appeared to be the same throughout most of the stadium.  It seems the football environment Iowa State is trying to create is not at all the counterpart of ISU’s basketball Hilton Magic (although, maybe that has changed considerably, too?). more…

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Posted in Deane Gunderson, Iowa, Rolfe | 5 Comments »

Blue Hat and Iowa Corn (Part I)

July 8, 2009

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Almost dusk after RAGBRAI bicyclers had passed through Rolfe, Iowa, on July 23, 2007. (Click photo to enlarge.)

The view from Highway 15, looking east into Rolfe, Iowa, at almost dusk after RAGBRAI cyclists had passed through on July 23, 2007. (Click photo to enlarge.)

~ Submitted by Clara Gunderson Hoover

When RAGBRAI went through Rolfe on July 23, 2007, most of our family spent the day in town and enjoyed the many bicyclers and onlookers who talked with our father and visited his Cy sculpture on Garfield Street.  In fact, my husband Hal and I had just concluded our Okoboji vacation in time to be in Rolfe for RAGBRAI. more…

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Posted in Deane Gunderson, Ear of Iowa Corn, Iowa, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe, Watercolor, Watercolor image | 1 Comment »