Donald Dean Duncanson

Donald Dean Duncanson, 97, of North Mankato entered into his heavenly home on March 11, 2025. A service of Christian burial will be held on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 302 Warren Street, Mankato, with visitation one hour prior. Following the service, burial will take place at Woodland Hills Memorial Park, Mankato.

Don was born October 12, 1927 to Harry and Ruth Duncanson in Winnebago, MN, where he was raised and enjoyed playing football for the local high school. After graduating in 1945, he joined the U.S. Navy and served on a destroyer through the end of WWII and performed post-war decommissioning of ships in San Diego, CA.

Don returned to southern MN, where he met his bride, Olivia “Libby” Adeline Lund. The two were joined in marriage on June 18, 1955. Married life began in a trailer home, and as their family grew, they were able to move into the home Libby’s father had built for them in North Mankato. It was in this home that they raised their four children, and where they lived out the remainder of their lives.

After Don’s discharge from the Navy, his musical aptitude and enjoyment of the instruments he’d learned to play led him to the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. There he fine-tuned his skills and learned how to arrange music. In addition, he attended the Conn School of Musical Instrument Repair in Elkhart, IN where he learned skills to fix and maintain musical instruments. He went on to lead his own “big band” dance band, the Don Deane Orchestra, playing in popular ballrooms throughout southern MN and Iowa. After the big band era waned, Don moved into sales and sold a variety of products for several companies, the longest being regional pharmaceutical sales for Young’s Drug, from which he ultimately retired.

Don was an old car enthusiast and became a collector of sorts, saving the best of the classics he’d owned over the years. A member of the Hudson Car Club, he and Libby enjoyed visiting car shows both near and far.

Don remained a sailor at heart throughout his life. Starting with a small dual-purpose kayak with a sail, he set out on local lakes. Later he purchased a 16-foot sailboat kit that he built in the garage with the help of his teenage sons, who crawled into the tight spaces and helped him keep track of his tools. The boat was christened “Melissa” after the lake on which the family sailed for many years during their vacations to Detroit Lakes. Don added to his small “fleet” later in life with a 19-foot Com-pac he named “Inheritance”. Docking her on a local lake and even on Lake Superior for a few years, he enjoyed the feel of the wind in his sails as he rode the waves. He was usually accompanied by other family members who were crew for him, and of course, he took his bride Libby along for the ride.

Don is survived by his children: Neal (Nancy) Duncanson, Bryan Duncanson, and Lynn (Dave) Keller; grandchildren: Leah Keller, MacKenzie Keller, Sarah Henry, and Steven Henry; son-in-law Terry Field; one niece, three nephews and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Olivia, daughter Julie Henry, grandson Alex Keller, brothers James and Robert, sister Carolyn Beach and one nephew.