Dale Fortney, 93
Published 11:07 am Thursday, December 8, 2011
Funeral services for Dale A. Fortney will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, 2011, at the LeRoy Lutheran Church in LeRoy with the Rev. Rolf Wangberg officiating. Burial will be in the LeRoy Cemetery. Friends may call at the Church one hour before the service on Saturday and from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Hindt Funeral Home in LeRoy.
Dale Fortney, 93, of Austin and formerly of LeRoy died Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at Our House Memory Care in Austin.
He was born April 5, 1918, in Sumner Township, Iowa, to Cecil Vaughn Fortney and Christina Engelina Sturnberg Fortney. Dale attended school in Howard County, Iowa, and LeRoy, Minn. He worked as a farm laborer, for Libbys Canning Company and for a canning company in Illinois.
On April 16, 1938, he was united in marriage to Gladys I. Fortney in Osage, Iowa, and celebrated 65 years together before her death in 2003. Dale and Gladys farmed in Taopi, Minn., Saratoga, Iowa, and the Grand Meadow areas for a number of years before starting the Fortney Construction Co., building homes in Austin, Albert Lea and many rural areas in Mower and Freeborn Counties. His wife, Gladys, worked beside him on many of the homes. In 1960 they moved to the Moscow, Minn., area where they built a new home and large hog setup where he added feeder pig production to the carpenter work.
Dale loved to fish and kept a boat at Leech Lake.
After Dale started having health problems, they bought a motor home and a jeep to tow behind. They traveled five to 11 months a year, each one driving 100 miles at a time. They traveled all of Alaska, Mexico, New Foundland and three-fourths of the United States. They spent many winters in the deserts hunting rocks. They moved to LeRoy in 1987 and quit traveling in 1995.
Dale is survived by his brother, Corall (Janice) Fortney of Lime Springs, Iowa, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and two brothers, Dean and Glen. Condolences may be left at www.hindtfuneralhomes.com.