Duane M. Wangen Jr., 69, of Bismarck, lost his hard-fought 10-year battle with cancer on July 25, 2023, surrounded by family at St. Alexius in Carrington.
A funeral will be held on Saturday, July 29 at 10 a.m., at Charity Lutheran Church in Bismarck. Lunch and interment at Fairview Cemetery, Bismarck, will follow the service.
Visitation will be held on Friday, July 28, 2023, from 5-7 p.m., at Bismarck Funeral Home with a prayer service at 7 p.m.
Duane, or Butch as most called him, was born January 21, 1954, to Duane Sr. and Darlene (Molob) in Harvey, ND. He along with his siblings, Linda, Steve, Marlene, and Ken spent their younger years in Hurdsfield, Denhoff and Goodrich. He graduated from Goodrich High School in 1972. While in school, he enjoyed playing football, basketball, and track. He played drums and was part of the band Grapevine Five. He went on to get his Associates Degree from Wahpeton School of Science.
He married Faye Eiselen in Goodrich on June 30, 1974. Together they had two daughters, Kari and Cassie. They started their lives together in New Town, where Butch followed in his parent’s footsteps and volunteered for 4 years as an EMT and 10 years as a firefighter. He worked as an electronic technician for Northrup. Together, they moved to Bottineau where they opened Business Basics. They moved on to Dickinson where he worked for Home America fixing appliances and SBM fixing electronics. In 2000, they moved to Bismarck, and he worked for Datru where he fixed bank equipment. At this point, Butch decided he was “tired of fixing sh**” and he then earned his GIS certification. He worked for KLJ until retirement.
He was an avid church member throughout the years and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys. He enjoyed spending time with family, especially his grandkids. His many hobbies included fishing, listening to cowboy poetry, camping, listening to and creating music, leather work, wood working, reading, and watching westerns, and watching wrestling (much to his girls’ dismay). He also played harmonica and was learning the guitar.
Butch is survived by his wife Faye (of 49 years), daughter Kari (Chad) Fischer, daughter Cassie (Kent) Theurer, Mother Darlene, grandchildren Wyatt, Brycen, and Miriam, siblings Linda (Jason) Winter, Steve (Gail) Wangen, Marlene (Mark) Deyle, and Ken (Stephanie) Wangen, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family and friends.
He is preceded in death by his father Duane Sr., uncles Roy and Dick, Aunt Marion.
We celebrate that our God-loving cowboy has found rest.
In lieu of flowers or plants, donations can be made to Charity Lutheran Church in Bismarck, the American Cancer Society and/or the North Dakota Firefighters Association.
A live stream of the service will be posted to his obituary at www.bismarckfuneralhome.com.