The Life of BURT HARRY JURGENSEN

BURT HARRY JURGENSEN

BORN:           August 10, 1943, Des Moines, Iowa

DIED:             November 17, 2008, Dallas County Hospital, Perry, Iowa

The second child of Marcus and Catherine (Lewis) Jurgensen, was born at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines and lived his entire life in central Iowa.

Burt had a “gift of gab,” was affectionate, gregarious, competitive and industrious.  Gifted mechanically, he could repair anything with a motor.  Also, using skills he learned as a teenager on summer jobs, he was also gifted with his hands.  He built his rural-Woodward, earth-berm home from top to bottom.

Burt grew up in the Highland Park area, attended Oak Park Elementary, Harding Junior High, Des Moines Technical High School and graduated from North High School in 1962.

He married Donna Kay Hanson (Runnells, Iowa) and they had three children: Curtis Wesley, Dana Lori and Breta Jordal.  He was a long-time employee in various departments of John Deere Ankeny Works.

Burt was a dedicated sports fan, enjoyed a competitive game of billiards and eating the delicious food his wife prepared.  He was an intense Ford Motor and drag-racing fan.  He survived a seven-hour surgery to repair a brain aneurism at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester (MN) in 1978.  In his 60’s he was diagnosed with lung cancer and lived an additional five years.

He died suddenly from a heart attack at Dallas County Hospital in Perry (IA).  He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Donna; children Curtis (Sue) of Perry; Dana (Claire) Erickson of North Carolina; and Breta of Adel; seven grandchildren and a sister Janis (Robert D.) Meek of West Des Moines.