Allen F Kawell

Allen Frederick Kawell, age 95, of Mankato, died peacefully on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at Autumn Grace Senior Services in Mankato.

Funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, December 6, 2008 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Mankato, with Rev. Paul Lauer officiating. Burial will be in Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. on Friday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, and continues one hour prior to the service on Saturday. Mankato Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements.

Allen was born May 30, 1913 on the family farm near Henderson, Minnesota and as a child moved with his family to Mankato. In his teenage years he developed a keen interest in radio and electronics which he pursued for his entire career. This led him to start his own radio repair shop in the early 1930's, join the Army Signal Corp and work as a supervisor at the U.S. gov't war production facility at Hanford, Washington. After the war Allen returned to Mankato and started a very successful business at 720 S. Front St. selling and repairing radios, appliances and later televisions and stereos. He was joined in business by his brother Robert for many years. In 1964 he became an instructor of electronics at Northwestern Electronics Institute in Minneapolis. He lived with his family in Burnsville until retiring in 1980 and moved to a new home on the Le Sueur River near Good Thunder, Minnesota. For the past eight years he and his wife Florence lived in Mankato. Allen pursued many other interests during his long life including photography, woodworking, fishing, family genealogy, gardening and wine making. He was a founding member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church.

Allen is survived by his devoted wife of 59 years, Florence (Ruge); five children, Mark of Minnetonka, Ann (Al) Luke of Raleigh, NC, John of Eagle Lake, Laurie (Larry) Gilbertson of River Falls, WI, Karen (Scott) Cole of St. Paul; one brother, Robert (Carolyn) Kawell of Mankato. Allen also was loved by two more generations of family including thirteen grandchildren; two great-grandsons; and many friends with special note of Mrs. Norman (Caroline) Kawell of Akeley.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Augusta (Klappenbach) Kawell and beloved brother, Norman. The family would like to thank the staff of ISJ Hospice Services and Autumn Grace for their kind attention to Allen's needs over the last several months.