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Photo of David L. Fenton Sr.

David L. Fenton Sr.

7/31/1953 - 7/31/2016


Obituary


David L. Fenton Sr., 63, of Garner, died Saturday July 30, 2016, at his home in Garner.

Funeral service for David L. Fenton Sr. will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Duncan.
Visitation for David L. Fenton Sr. will be 5:30–7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, 2016 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Duncan. Scriptural Wake and Parish Rosary will be at 5 p.m. Friday at the church.
David Leroy Fenton was born in Belle Fouch, South Dakota on July 31, 1953, to Kenneth and Rosemary (Gray) Fenton. They lived in Fruitdale, South Dakota until his 8th grade year. They then moved to Lower Brule, South Dakota until he was ready for high school. David attended high school in Pipestone, Minnesota. David graduated from Pipestone High School in 1972. He worked for Green Giant in Minnesota during the summer following high school. David proceeded to work for Black Hawk Constructions out of Waterloo, Iowa. He was helping with building for Winnebago Industries in Forest City until March 1973.
While David was working in Forest City, he met his wife Diane (Chizek) Fenton at the café in Garner where she was working at the time. They got married on April 5, 1973 and moved to Nisland, South Dakota, where David worked for his three uncles on the family dairy farm. David and Diane had their three boys in the exact same hospital that David was born in. They then moved back to Iowa to live with Diane’s folks while they looked for work. David found work in Northwood where David and Diane moved to.
David was a farm hand for Eldran Brunsvold. They had their daughter while living in Northwood. Shortly after which they moved to Goodell where David worked as a farm hand for Mike Sherriff for several years. David was also a farm hand for Marlin Kuhlers and Kent Kuhlers outside of Meservey. David decided to go work for Bell Recycling for a brief time before he then decided to work for the Belmond Feed and Grain. He went to work for Amsterdam Poultry in Goodell as they changed names to Sparboe Farms.
David left Sparboe Farms to weld at IMT in Garner for the last 20 years. In 2010 David was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Shortly after which the doctors located it in the thyroid and lymph nodes. In 2014 David’s esophageal cancer came back and cancer was also found in his bones at the time. In 2015 the doctors found many different spots of cancer throughout his body and was diagnosed with terminal cancer, which forced him to retire from IMT in June of 2015.
David is survived by his wife Diane Fenton of Garner, three sons: Leonard (Len) and wife Sarah of Mason City, Albert (Al) of New Richland, MN, David Jr (Davie) of Garner, daughter Minnie and husband Scott Buland of Mason City; grandchildren: Cory, Anna, Jessica, Faith, Grace Anna, Madelynn, Emerson, and Rosemary; great-grandsons Marshall and Kendrick; brothers Randy and wife Linda of Pipestone, MN, and Kevin and wife Brenda of Lavern, MN; sister Kerry and husband Jim Erk of Buffalo, SD; many nieces and nephews; Uncle Donald and Aunt Kathy of Texas; Uncle Oscarlee of Oregon; Aunt Audrey of Iowa; several cousins; and all of his IMT family.

He is preceded in death by parents Kenneth and Rosemary Fenton; grandsons Dylan and Benjamin (Bennie); uncles: Norman, Marvin, and Wayne; and all four of his grandparents.