Donald H. Markwardt of Waite Park died on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2002, at the Lakeview Home on Pearl Lake. He was 81. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2003, at Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Sauk Rapids with Rev. Don Wagner officiating. Entombment will be in Assumption Cemetery Mausoleum in St. Cloud. Friends may call from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and one hour prior to services on Saturday, Jan. 4, at the funeral home in Sauk Rapids. There will be a prayer service at 7 p.m. on Friday evening, Jan. 3. Donald Markwardt was born on Dec. 9, 1921, in Maine Prairie Township (rural Stearns County) to Arthur L. and Anna (Strecker) Markwardt. He married Rosella Stelten on June 10, 1944, at St. Boniface Catholic church in Cold Spring. He farmed all his life in Maine Prairie Township, retiring in 1991. He was a past board member and first president of the Clearwater River Watershed District, and a past member of the Kimball Area School Board. Donald was preceded in death by his parents, and his granddaughter Megan Markwardt. He is survived by his wife Rosella of Waite Park; children Robert of St. Cloud, Judith (and Terry) Tobin Bell of Burnsville, Daniel (and Patricia) of Kimball, David of Idaho, Terrance (and Debra) of Austin, Texas, and Keith (and Karen) of Buffalo; sister Elaine Beck of Ojai, Calif., and brother Melvin of Rochester, Mich.; 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Memorials are preferred.
