Dwain Beckel, 86

Published 4:18 pm Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Dwain Beckel, 86, of Baudette, Minn., died peacefully on Dec. 31, 2011, at the Lakewood Care Center.

Dwain was born to Jack and Stella Beckel on June 14, 1925, in Austin, Minn. He grew up in Austin and joined the U.S. Marine Corp. at 17 and served for three years, including the South Pacific in WWII. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Dwain married Evelyn Bustad on Nov. 10, 1945, at Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Austin. Dwain worked as a bricklayer and carpenter until he and Evelyn purchased Hillcrest Resort in Blackduck, Minn., in 1949. During those years, he traveled back and forth between operating the resort and doing brick work in Austin.

Dwain and Evelyn moved to Baudette in 1959 when they purchased Trails End Resort. Dwain designed and built a new lodge at the resort. They owned and operated Trails End until they purchased Jesme’s Resort and once again designed and built a lodge in 1971, which became Sportsman’s Lodge. Dwain and his brother, John, with Dwain and Evelyn’s four sons, Kit, Vic, Tony, and Chad, operated Sportsman’s Lodge until 1995. In addition to being a resort owner and fishing guide, Dwain was a contractor. Dwain did a lot of construction in the Lake of the Woods area, which included several lodges, resort cabins and family homes. He also built the Lighthouse Café, which Dwain and Evelyn operated for several years — presently Alice’s Family Restaurant.

Dwain was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed trapping, fishing and hunting. He ran a trap line from Blackduck to Baudette which is how he discovered Trails End Lodge. He taught his sons how to trap and did some trapping for the State of Minnesota. Dwain not only enjoyed hunting locally for whitetail deer, fox, etc., but traveled around the world. He hunted in Africa, Russia, China, Mongolia, New Zealand, Canada, and Alaska. He enjoyed teaching his sons and grandchildren to hunt. He loved to fish for walleyes, northerns and muskies on Lake of the Woods but also traveled to fish in Alaska, Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Goose hunting was always a favorite pastime. He made annual trips to Manitoba, Alberta, or Saskatewan with his sons, relatives and friends. This also led to his creation of the Lake of the Woods Chapter of Geese International, which relocated Canadian Geese to our area.

Dwain’s other interests included gardening and hobby farming. He took pride in his garden each summer and enjoyed sharing his fresh-grown vegetables and fruits. He raised a few beef cattle, wild turkeys, ducks, chickens and geese.

Dwain is survived by his wife, Evelyn, and their four sons, Kit (Peggy) Beckel, Vic (Jeri) Beckel, Tony (Patty) Beckel, and Chad ( Melani) Beckel; grandchildren, Josh ( Marsha) Beckel, Bonnie (Andy) Harness, Dewey ( Ashley) Beckel, Jack (Katie) Beckel, Anna Beckel, Kristen Beckel, Nicole Beckel, Cole (Stacey) Beckel, and Jake Beckel; five great-grandchildren; two brothers, John (Jan) Beckel of Baudette, and Richard Beckel of Colon, Neb.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Stella Beckel; brothers, Bud Beckel and Dave Beckel; sister, Veronica Nelson, and grandson Benjamin Beckel.

Funeral Services will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baudette at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. Visitation will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4 with a devotional service at 7 p.m. Interment will be at the Elm Park Cemetery in Baudette in the Veterans Cemetery.