Duane Tracy

Duane Tracy age 85 of Nashua died Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 7, 2012, at the United Methodist Church in Nashua with Pastor Okitakoyi Lundula officiating. Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nashua. Friends may greet the family 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. Friday, January 6, 2011, at the Hugeback & Chenoweth Funeral Home in Nashua. Visitation continues an hour prior to the funeral at the church on Saturday. A memorial fund is being established in Duane's name, Memorials may be directed to: Duane Tracy Family, 4242 Morel Circle NE, Iowa City, Iowa 52240. Duane Eldon Tracy was born August 18, 1926 on the family farm south of Nashua, Iowa the son of Frank and Margaret (Jones) Tracy. He was a graduate of the Nashua High School in 1944 and briefly attended Iowa State University. Duane was united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Hoon on December 26, 1948, at the United Methodist Church in Nashua. The couple had two sons and four daughters. Duane worked for a short period of time on his father’s farm then became a salesman for the cutting edge Surge Milking Equipment business in the 1950s. He became a dairy farmer on a farm west of Nashua until he sold the farm in 1973 at which time he used his carpenter skills to build houses. In December, 1975 he purchased a limestone/rock quarry which he ran for 15 years. Throughout this time he continued to farm on both purchased and rented farm land until he completely retired in 1997. Duane was an active volunteer in the community including membership on committees for the Nashua United Methodist Church, 4-H leader, President of the Big Four Fair Board for 11 years and President of the Chickasaw County Historical Society. Duane especially enjoyed time spent with family; traveling to Florida every winter as well as trips to Alaska, the Caribbean, the Canadian Rockies, and the Gulf Coast; and playing 500 with the Card Club. Duane is survived by two sons, Kevin Tracy of Maple Grove, MN and Neal Tracy of Ankeny, IA; four daughters, Elizabeth (John) Schacht of Iowa City, Dawn Blum of West Des Moines, Christine (Dan) Schmidt of Lenexa, KS, and Mary Frances Tracy of Eagan, MN; six grandchildren, Emily (John) Campbell, Angela (Matt) Farrell, Andy (Michelle) Blum, Amy (Todd) White, Garrett Schmidt and Rebecca Schmidt; two great-grandchildren, Cole Campbell and Mackenzie Blum; two brothers, Merton Tracy of Nashua, Leon (Ellen) Tracy of Tucson, AZ. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Mary; two sisters, Kathryn Richardson and Mary Annee Stanley; and son-in-law, Dave Blum.