Donald S. Fiegen

Donald Sylvester Fiegen, formerly of La Crescent Minnesota died on Father’s Day, Sunday June 18th 2023 at Bethany Saint Joseph Care Center in La Crosse. After living with increasing dementia over the past few years, he finally succumbed to pneumonia.

Don was born on November 16, 1932 to Sylvester and Agnes (Bowar) Fiegen in Dell Rapids, SD.  He attended St. Mary’s Parish school in Dell Rapids where the nuns entrusted Don with a rural school bus route. Upon graduation, he joined the US Navy and served during the Korean War.  After discharge, he worked as a diesel truck mechanic in Sioux Falls.  On October 6, 1956, He married Marlene Pierret, a nurse whom he met at a big band dance. With the encouragement of his mother and the financial support of his working wife, he earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from South Dakota State University, while simultaneously running a small garbage service and starting a family on the outskirts of Sioux Falls.

In 1965, Don moved his family of three boys from the stark plains of South Dakota to the verdant bluffs of La Crescent, Minnesota, to start his new career at The Trane Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Farm kids generally make good engineers and Don was sharp and creative, so he became a very well respected manufacturing engineer over the course of his 30 years at Trane. Outside of work, Don designed and built numerous contraptions from simple to elaborate.  Rather than buy a commercially available tool or mechanical component, he would generally opt to design and build a substitute.  Two of his most noteworthy devices were what was potentially the first adjustable height basketball backboard and a marching “tin solders” lawn scene for the Christmas season.  Always, his creations were simple, practical and efficient.

Don was a gentleman and a kind person but with a bit of a stubborn streak once he got an idea in his head. Quieter than many Fiegens, he was a good listener, and he told some great stories if you knew what to ask. He wrote real poems that rhymed for family member’s special occasions.

Don served as president of a local dance club for more than a decade. He was exceeded only by Marlene in evangelizing the social and physical health benefits of dancing. Don and Marlene pursued this avocation with vigor traversing the country during their empty nester and retirement years. They taught beginning dancing through the La Crescent Community Ed and even taught some couples on a small dance floor Don built in his basement. His poorest students were his sons.

The humble character that Don Fiegen forged during his farm-boy youth, through his career as an engineer and role as a father, and in the final years before his death have created a legacy that his family will carry on for future generations.

Preceded in death by parents, siblings Lorayne and husband Merle Goedken, Alice and husband Marvin Thomas, Clarence; brothers-in-law Arnold Pierret and wife Lorna, Kenneth Pierret and wife Mary Ellen, Donald Pierret, and sister-in-law Sister Madonna Pierret.

Survived by sister Barbara and husband Ronald Walters; sisters-in-law Linda Pierret, Phyllis Fiegen; wife of 66 years Marlene; son Mark (wife Melanie Kogel), son Greg (wife Lisa Baldus), and son Brian (wife Susan Solie); and nine grandchildren with nine spouses, and 22 great-grandchildren, living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Virginia.

The family is especially grateful for the superb care Don received at Bethany Saint Joseph Care Center.

There will be visitation on Wednesday June 28th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Schumacher Kish Funeral Home in La Crescent with the rosary prayed after. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday June 29th at 11:00 am at Church of the Crucifixion in La Crescent MN. Reverend John L. Evans, II will officiate. There will be visitation 1 hr. before Mass and a lunch in the school cafeteria after.

The family prefers any memorials be made to Bethany Saint Joseph Care Center or the Alzheimer’s Association.