Sept. 5, 1934 — July 19, 2024
Edward Dean Hummel, age 89 of Spirit Lake, passed away on July 19, 2024 at Ruthven Care Center in Ruthven, Iowa. He was born on Sept. 5, 1934 in Cushing to Ed and Lena Hummel.
Dean was raised in Spirit Lake and graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1952. He was united in marriage to Elayne Stanton on April 20, 1955, in Spirit Lake. Dean joined the Army in February 1955 and was honorably discharged in August 1955.
Dean was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church and served on the church council and building committee and a long time participant in the church choir. He was a member of the Spirit Lake Noon Kiwanis Club since 1965; served as a den master for the Spirit Lake Cub Scouts; assistant 4-H leader for the Superior Lakers Club; served on the Spirit Lake Little League Board of Directors; served as a special deputy for the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department for many years; one of the first farmers in Dickinson County to be a member of the area Chamber of Commerce; director for the DEK and ILEC electric cooperatives from 1972-1989 and was instrumental in the merger that formed ILEC.
Dean was also a director for First Federal Savings and Loan and Northwest Savings Bank in Spirit Lake; longtime member of the Dickinson County Republican Central Committee; served on the Spirit Lake Community School Board of Education from 1967-1977 and as president from 1974-1976; member of the Dickinson County Selective Service Board for nine years; served on the Superior Township ASCS committee; long time Dickinson County Farm Bureau member serving as director, voting delegate and appointed to serve as delegate to the National Farm Bureau annual meeting.
In 1977 the Spirit Lake Kiwanis Club named him the outstanding farmer in Nebraska-Iowa District; in 1981 he was named to the American Cyanamid Company’s 65 Club which honored the top 10 outstanding farmers in the United States, U.S. Congressman Berkley Bedell presented him the award in Washington, DC. He served on U.S. Congressman Wiley Mayne and U.S. Congressman Berkley Bedell’s farm advisory committees; was named the Spirit Lake Noon Kiwanis Citizen of the Years in 1985.
Dean was a seed dealer for Pioneer Hybrid International from 1981-1996; farmed with his father and brother from 1955-1986 and then his sons from 1986 until his retirement from farming in 1996. Even in retirement, Dean continued to help at the farm.
When Dean had free time he enjoyed his golf, card playing and sitting for coffee at the round table with the guys. He loved being around family and friends and meeting new people. Dean made a “game of chance” out of everything, whether it was shooting free throws, playing bags or sticking someone for the coffee bill playing the numbers game. Several Spirit Lake residents still carry a card in their wallets to remind them to “never bet with Dean Hummel.”
Dean is survived by his two sons, Dan Hummel and his wife Jane of Spirit Lake and Todd Hummel and his wife Becky of Spirit Lake, daughter Cheryl Hummel Ihry and her fiancé Bob Hansen of Spirit Lake; six grandchildren: Joe (Emilia) Hummel, Jim (Ashley) Hummel, Jon (Shanda) Hummel, Lauren (Justin) Hanson, Sara (Spenser) Taylor and Scott (Taylor) Hummel; 14 great-grandchildren; sister Mary Lou Ayres of Spirit Lake; and many nieces and nephews. Dean was preceded in death by his wife, Elayne; parents, Ed and Lena Hummel; mother and father-in-law Ed and Ida McMahon; brother and sister-in-law, Johnny and Doyne Hummel; sister and brother-in-law, Betty and George Banning; brother-in-law, Dick Ayres; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Bob and Evelyn Lucken.
A memorial service for Dean will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 29, 2024, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. up until the time of the service on Monday at the church. The burial will take place in the Spirit Lake Memory Gardens Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Arrangements are under the direction of the Robinson Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Online condolences may be left at www.spiritlakefuneralhome.com
Memorials may be made to the Spirit Lake Community Schools Foundation, Gentiva Hospice or to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Dean’s name.