Pastor Duane H. O'Tool

Pastor Duane Harry OTool, age 92, of Coon Rapids passed away peacefully on Monday, July 5, 2021 at the Guthrie County Hospital, in Guthrie Center, Iowa.

Funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, July 10, 2021 at the Coon Rapids First United Methodist Church, with Pastor Joyce Webb officiating. Casket Bearers will be Nick O’Tool, Mike O’Tool, Chris O’Tool, Jason Doolittle, Justin Doolittle, and Jake O’Tool. Honorary Casket Bearers will be Marcy (Wald) Duncalf, Jennifer (Doolittle) Haskin, Jenessa (Doolittle) Haskin, Erin O’Tool, Tyler Middleton, Ronnie Worley, Nicholas Worley, Michael Stofer, and Randa Wall. A committal service for the immediate family will be held at the Wall Lake Cemetery at a later time, with Rita Stofer officiating.  Visitation will be on Friday July 9th at the Dahn & Woodhouse Funeral Home in Coon Rapids, with the family present from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.  A prayer service will be held at 6:00 PM.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Pastor Duane Harry O’Tool was born on March 28, 1929 on his family’s farm south of Carnarvon, IA, and was the son of Harry Otto and Orlene Augusta (Garrels) O’Tool. He grew up near Carnarvon, initially attended a country school and then completed his primary/secondary education in the Lakeview and Wall Lake schools.  He graduated from Wall Lake High School in 1947.  His family moved off the farm and into Carnarvon, where his father ran a plumbing/heating/construction business.  He and his brother Darrel worked the family business and also did construction projects for the area.  He was married to Louise Pearl Langbein on June 20th, 1950 at Peace Lutheran Church in Wall Lake.  He built a house in Carnarvon where the couple made their first home.  Louise’s mother passed away in 1951 and at this time they adopted her sister Margo.  Duane worked construction, and was well on his way in the business world, when he heard the call to enter the field of Christian ministry.  In 1956, Duane and Louise moved to Storm Lake, IA so he could attend Buena Vista College. During this time they lived in the basement of the Iowa landmark Harker House, providing handyman, maintenance and cleaning services for rent.  After completing his studies at Buena Vista, Duane took his first ministry assignment and moved the family to Dickens Iowa, where he was pastor for the Dickens and Langdon United Methodist churches (1960-1961). Duane and his growing family moved quite frequently as he continued his ministry in the following Iowa United Methodist churches; Montour (1961-1962), Albion/Minerva (1962-1963), Hawkeye/Alpha (1963-1967), Goldfield/Hardy (1967-1970), Marengo (1970-1977), Story City (1977-1981), and Churdan/Lanesboro (1981-1984).  During his time in Hawkeye, Duane commuted weekly to Dubuque, IA to further his education at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where he was ordained as a Methodist minister with a Master’s degree of Divinity.

In preparation for retiring from the ministry, Duane began building a home in Lake City, IA in 1978, spending days off and summer vacations working on it.  Duane and Louise moved to Lake City in 1984.  Duane kept busy with family building projects and making novelty clocks.  They purchased a drive-in in Lake City and worked the drive-in together until Louise passed away in February 1992.  Duane re-married in October of 1992 to Juanita (Evans) Middleton.  They remained in Lake City for four years before relocating to Coon Rapids in 1996.  Duane continued to do construction projects for the area.  His son Marlyn moved to Coon Rapids in 2015 to help him with his projects.  Even though retired, Duane remained active in his ministry up to the time of his death.  When needed, he filled in for the following churches for short periods of time:  Lake City Christian Church; Glidden United Methodist Church; Glidden Presbyterian Church; Coon Rapids Ascension Lutheran Church; and Lake City Union Church. Duane enjoyed purchasing homes, fixing them up, and then renting or re-selling.  He also enjoyed camping and fishing and loved spending time with his family.

Duane is survived by his wife Juanita, Coon Rapids; daughter Margo Wald (Tom), Goldfield, IA; son Mark (Angela), Omaha, NE; daughter Marlene Doolittle (David), Story City, IA; son Marlyn (Tina) Coon Rapids, IA; 10 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; brother Darrel (Lorraine), Phoenix AZ; brother-in-law Harry Langbein (Fern), Carrol, IA; sister-in-law Thelma Hubbard, Winterset, IA; and numerous in-laws and other extended family.

Duane is also survived by Juanita’s family:  Roger Middleton (Jeanne), Ankeny, IA; Rita Stofer (Dennis), West Des Moines, IA; Rhonda Wall, Casey, IA; Ryan Middleton, Guthrie Center, IA;  5 grandchildren; 9 great grandchildren; 3 great great grandchildren.

Duane was preceded in death by his parents Harry and Orlene; his first wife Louise; sister-in-law Bonita O’Tool; brother-in-law Don Langbein (Jackie); sister-in-law Dorthy Bowman (Carl); brother-in-law John Langbein; brother-in-law Virgil Hubbard; step son Rick Middleton; and step son-in-law Randy Wall.