Obituary of Donald A Lange

Donald A Lange

Age 87, of Brooklyn Park, MN passed away peacefully with family by his side on August 11th 2024

Donald was born May 12th 1937 to Milford & Olga (Skime) in Roseau, MN and grew up on the family farm in Badger, MN. He was the oldest of the 6 kids in the family with 3 brothers & 2 sisters.

Don graduated from High school June 1955. He then enlisted in the US Air Force. He did his basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. After basic training he went to Chanute AFB in Illinois for technical training on jet engines.

Then on April 7th 1956 Donald married Elaine Staehnke in Badger, MN & off he went to Goose Bay Labrador where he was a Jet engine Mechanic until June of 1957. For the remainder of his time in the USAF he was stationed in Las Vegas Nevada at Nellis AFB also as a jet engine mechanic. Rumor has it he did maintenance for the ThunderBirds. During his time at Nellis, Donald & Elaine welcomed the birth of Jay Donald in May 1958

After his discharge form the USAF in June 1959 Donald & Elaine stopped in Denver Colorado & Donald started working for Martin Marietta Corporation as a Weapons Systems Mechanical & Propulsion Technician. He worked there until December 1964. While in Colorado Don also worked on the pit crew at the local car racing track.

Don enjoyed his time in Colorado fishing, hunting, jeeping & camping in the Colorado Rockies. During their time in Colorado their daughter Dawn Elaine was born in September 1960.

Donald, Elaine & the kids headed back to Minnesota & in January 1965 Donald started his 30+ year’s career for General Mills as a Process & Development Technician. He worked on many different food projects including Bugles, BacOS, & Yoplait yogurt & even has 2 patents’ in his name.

With Don’s food knowledge he was well suited for his job of quality control over baked goods at home & especially Lefse at Christmas time.

Donald & Elaine finally settled in Brooklyn Park MN when they bought their house in 1965

Don always did the mechanical work on the cars. He could tell you the year of a car just by looking at the taillights. He also was a pretty good handyman around the house.

Don liked to build things. Don built his deck & helped Jay & Ann build theirs as well. The most cherished thing he built is the cedar strip canoe. Don also restored a1936 Old Town canoe that was 1 year older than he was.

Both Donald & Elaine were very supportive of their kids & grandkids by being at every hockey, basketball, baseball/softball game, soccer & wrestling match, track meet. They attended school events, plays, band & choir concerts and Graduations.

Don spent a lot of time outside, deer hunting, fishing, biking, x-country skiing, snowmobiling & running. Don raced in many 5&10K’s and ran in both the Twin Cities & Grandma’s Marathons.

Donald & Elaine were big campers as well. Started out tent camping & then in their motor home. They visited all of the State Parks in MN & their favorite place was fall camping on the North Shore at Temperance River State Park.

After Don retired from General Mills Donald & Elaine put in many hours volunteering with the retirees club at General Mills.

They enjoyed traveling and took many trips with R&J Tour’s, General Mills, and on their own. The East Coast, Norway, Italy, Israel (Holy Land) & Alaska are just a few of the places they enjoyed.

Donald & Elaine also spent many hours enjoying the theater & music concerts. For many years they shared Gopher Hockey season tickets with Jay & Ann. Don would always like to get to the arena when the doors opened to watch the teams warm up & to get his fresh popcorn for the game. One highlight was traveling with the Gopher Hockey team to Buffalo NY in 2003 to watch them win the National Championship.

Don will be greatly missed by family & friends.

Donald is survived by daughter, Dawn; daughter –in-law, Ann; grandchildren, Corey (Emily) and Kayla (Christopher); great grandchildren, Noah Jay, Arthur “Art” James & bonus great grandchildren, Jane & Margot; siblings, Marlene, Keith (Eileen) Suzie (Marlin) & many nieces, nephews, relatives & friends

Preceded in death by wife Elaine of 63years; son, Jay Donald; parents, Milford & Olga; siblings, Walter & Dwight

Service will be held at a later date