Ronald Stabnow

Ronald Stabnow, 86, of Battle Lake , died Tuesday, January. 4, 2011, peacefully at his home.

Ronald Royce Stabnow was born on November 9, 1924 in Newark , South Dakota , the son of Julius and Mabell (Huckell) Stabnow. He was a member of the Community of Christ Church (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Ron attended Rural School District No. 1 in Old Town Clitherall and graduated from Battle Lake High School in 1942. He served with the U.S. Army during WW II from June 30, 1943 to July 24, 1945 as a PFC with the Infantry in the South Pacific Theatre where he received the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon. After his discharge he attended Graceland University in Lamoni , Iowa where he received his AA Degree, then continued his education at the University of Minnesota , Minneapolis .

Ron and Virginia Hanson were married on June 30, 1951 in Fergus Falls , Minnesota and moved into their present home in Battle Lake .

He was a member of American Legion, Army 96th Infantry Division Assn., DAV, Masons, Birak Shrine Club of the Zuhrah Shrine, the Tasseltones (Shrine) Men’s Chorus, BL Lions Club, Fergus Falls Barbershop Chorus charter member, National Rural Letter Carriers Assn., OTC Historical Society, Clitherall Lake Assn., Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Assn., Glendalough Advisory Board, BL Centennial Committee (he compiled After the Battle ) and BL Senior Citizens. Ron presided over many of these organizations as well as serving as treasurer in several. Ron also served as Mayor of Battle Lake for over twenty years.

During the summer of 1948 he was employed at Yellowstone National Park; from 1948-1951 he and his dad were in the auto parts business in Clitherall where Ron was an on the road salesman; from 1951-1952 he was with Frankovitz Hardware Store in Fergus Falls; from 1952-1962 he worked at the Otter Tail County Courthouse as the Deputy County Auditor; and in the spring of 1962 he began as a Rural Letter Carrier with the Battle Lake Post Office, retiring in 1991.

Ron enjoyed family picnics and water skiing at their Clitherall Lake property. Family, class and church reunions were also highlights at the home place. Army reunions and mid-winter barbershop conventions took Ron and Ginny to many interesting places. He liked collecting, downhill skiing, snowmobiling, golf, shooting gophers, deer and fox hunting, and working the daily crossword. He was known as an area historian.

Ron is survived by his wife, Ginny; three children, Jeffrey (Gay) Stabnow of Clitherall, Carrie (Chuck) Fisher of Plymouth and David (Bonnie) Stabnow of Nashville, TN; two granddaughters, Kate Stabnow of Clitherall and Jessie Stabnow of Aurora, CO, great-granddaughter, Sadie; sister, Marvel Westwood of Wichita, KS; aunt, Margie Nichols of LaMesa, CA and numerous relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Julius and Mabell Stabnow, and by two sisters, Faye Brown and Gloria Stabnow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Lakeland Hospice and Home Care, Lake Region Cancer Care and Research Center , OTC Historical Society, Prospect House, LACC or Glendalough Park Partners.