Russell died suddenly early Thursday morning June 2, 2011, at the Johnson Memorial Hospital in Dawson, one month after his 89th birthday.
Visitation was on Sunday, June 5, from 3-5 PM, at the Hanson & Dahl Funeral Home in Dawson and for one hour prior to the service at the church.
Funeral service was Monday, June 6, 2011, at 1:30 PM, at Grace Lutheran Church in Dawson, with Pastors Kendall Stelter and Keith Long officiating; neighbor and friend, Jill Christie sang "Borning Cry"; a 1943 recording of Russ playing a trombone solo of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" was played; and organist, Chris Lehne accompanied the singing of "Thine Is The Glory" and "Lift High Cross"; during the recessional the Army song "Caisson Song" was played. Burt and Sandy Faehn(great neighbor and friend), Rueben Christianson (great friend and 40+year employee of Hanson & Dahl) and all his coffee friends were honorary casketbearers and the family served as active casketbearers. Interment was in Grace Lutheran Cemetery with military honors by the Strand-Saboe VFW Post and Oscar Lee American Legion Post of Dawson.
Memorials preferred to the Dawson Community Foundation @Hanson & Dahl Funeral Home - PO Box 1001 - Dawson, MN 56232 OR Johnson Memorial Foundation @Johnson Memorial Hospital - 1282 Walnut Street-Dawson, MN 56232
Russell A. Dahl was born on May 2, 1922, in Dawson, to Robert and Laura (Lindboe) Dahl. He was baptized and confirmed at Riverside Lutheran Church. He attended Dawson Public Schools and graduated in 1940. Following 1� years at the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of the marching band, he entered the U.S. Army. While in the Army, he attended several schools for engineering before being sent to Europe. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe, which included liberating concentration camps. He was awarded several service and battle medals, and because of these, earned the Bronze Star, the 4th highest medal awarded by the military. After the war, he returned to the University, where he completed a degree in Business Administration. For a year he worked for Phillips Petroleum in accounting, before returning to the University to study Mortuary Science. On August 21, 1948, he was united in marriage to Betty M. Schad in Stillwater, MN. They moved to Dawson, MN, in 1949, when he joined his dad and the Hanson family in the family business of Hanson & Dahl Furniture Co, Inc. For many years they operated a furniture store, provided funeral service and operated the local ambulance service before retiring. During his tenure, the furniture store and ambulance portions were diminished and he operated Hanson & Dahl Funeral Home, Inc., until he stepped away and his son, Larry took the lead in the business.
In 1999, he was honored as being licensed as a funeral director in Minnesota for fifty years. He was a life-long member of Riverside and Grace Lutheran Church, a life-member of the Oscar Lee American Legion Post and Strand-Saboe VFW Post, served on the city council, and was very active in the Scouting program. He spent a great deal of time and energy doing a family tree, tracing all branches of his family and in-laws back many, many generations and completely computerizing it. He enjoyed camping for many years and also enjoyed traveling, including several trips to Beijing, China while his son, Tom lived there. He enjoyed attending many reunions all over the country of the "Railsplitters" of the 84th Infantry Division, and was especially proud of going with his sons in 2003 to Europe to show them their ancestry and the places where he fought and served during World War II. A highlight of the trip was being allowed to raise the US flag on Veteran's Day at the Ardennes American Military Cemetery near the village of Neupre, Belgium. He was an accomplished musician who played the trombone and baritone beautifully, was a master storyteller, had a wonderful sense of humor, and had a manner that endeared him to nearly everyone he met. He was extremely proud of his family and their accomplishments and dearly loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He died suddenly early Thursday morning June 2, 2011, at the Johnson Memorial Hospital in Dawson, one month after his 89th birthday.
Survivors include three sons: Mike and wife, Judy of Montevideo, Larry and wife, LuAnn of Dawson, and Tom and wife, Sue of Southlake, TX; 6 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren (soon 8 with baby girl Dahl): Christy (Ron) Horton and their children, Katie and Nicholas of Medford, OR; Laurie Dahl and her children, Brooklyn and Xavier of Montevideo; Jennifer (Walter) Schaefer and their children, Sidney and Anders of Sioux Falls, SD; Scott (Jocelyn) Dahl and their son, Carter of Sioux Falls, SD; Ann Dahl and John Dahl of Southlake, TX; as well as cousins and other extended relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his wife, Betty on April 5, 1996.