Duane Craig Denny

Duane Craig Denny, age 61, of rural Atwater, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, July 11, from an apparent heart attack.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, at the Rosendale United Methodist Church. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are entrusted to the Peterson Brothers Atwater Funeral Home. www.petersonbrothers.com

Duane was born on October 15, 1964, in Wadena, Minnesota, the son of Dale Sr. and Shirley (Schwartz) Denny. He grew up and received his education in the Bertha-Hewitt community. On April 3, 1987, Duane was united in marriage to Donna E. Jackson. They made their home in Lake Lillian prior to moving to a farm near Rosendale in 1994. He was employed for several years at Jennie-O Foods as a Live-Haul driver. Most recently Duane and Donna have owned and operated D & D Pony Rides which they ‘ve enjoyed working at area fairs, festivals, and celebrations. Duane’s hobbies included deer hunting, watching PBR and NASCAR, going to auctions and livestock sales and fishing. He had a love for horses and had a large collection of antique and rare horse figurines and built a room just for his tack. In the wintertime he could be found cutting and splitting wood and always had a fire going in the woodstove! He cherished time spent with family, especially his grandchildren. 

He is survived by his loving wife of over 39 years, Donna; his five children, Kristin (and Scott) Maxson of Litchfield, Justin (and Sarah) Denny of Lake Lillian, Kayla (and Cody) Allen of Deer Creek, Chelsey (and Jake) Frericks of Grove City and Courtney (and Kyle) Gregory of Atwater; seventeen grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Also surviving is his father, Dale Denny Sr. of Hewitt; and six siblings, Randy Denny of Swanville, Kathy (and Steven Dornquast) Denny of Rosemount, Joe Denny of Hewitt, Dale Jr. (and Lori) Denny of Perham, Julie Cole-Denny of Hewitt and Shelly (and Troy) Fuller of Evansville; besides other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Shirley in 2004; two brothers, Scott in 2009 and Danny in 2024; one sister-in-law, Lynn Denny and one brother-in-law, Tim Cole; one nephew, Kyle Denny and a great nephew, Kobe Weets.