Daniel D. Anderson

Daniel D. Anderson, Jr., 63, of Swaledale, passed away peacefully on March 10, at Unity Point, in Des Moines, where he lost a courageous battle with his kidneys.

A celebration of life will be held from 12:30-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, at the Moose Lodge, in Mason City. The family asks that masks be worn during the celebration of life and practice social distancing.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family and a charity will be established at a later date.

Dan was born to Daniel and Joanne (Burgess) Anderson on Sept. 18, 1956, in Mason City, Iowa.  He was the third oldest child to a family of six children.  He attended school in Mason City before the family moved to Clear Lake where he continued his education. Getting an education was not important to him when he was younger, so he had dropped out of school to work, but in 2018 he received his GED.  He was very proud of this accomplishment and was a mentor to the younger students in the class.

He met his wife, Kathleen Lunn, while attending high school at Clear Lake.  They were married on June 2,1979, at Zion Lutheran Church, in Clear Lake.  To this union four children were born, Travis, Bradley, Krista and Andrea.  They made their home in Clear Lake raising their children and later moved to Swaledale.

Growing up, he worked beside his father and brothers at the family Suzuki motorcycle shop that was located in Mason City, learning his trade for the repair of motorcycles.  He carried his love for motorcycles to his own hobby business by fixing the older motorcycles, it was his goal to make them have a spark.  Having motorcycles brought to him in “baskets” was also a challenge that peaked his interest.   He was not partial to just Harleys, he loved all makes and models of the bikes. Traveling to the Sturgis rally in South Dakota started as early as a teenager until a couple of years ago.  He had many stories to tell of camping in the downtown park area, to the events of the rally.  In fact, Dan always had a story to tell when you met him.  He was not a shy individual, he knew a lot of people or made a friend very easily.

Dan always liked the factor of speed.  Many weekends were spent racing motorcycles indoors and outdoors, a few race cars, truck pulling and just this last couple of years he started drag racing his motorcycles. Another interest that he had was showing his custom made motorcycles, his hand built rat rod and he was very proud of his Studebaker truck.

The year 2019 was a good year for him.  He placed first at the North Iowa Dragway for points in the unlimited trophy motorcycle class.  Then on his birthday he received the gift of life for a new kidney.

Dan worked most of his life at different factories around the North Iowa area as a fabricator machinist.  He had to retire due to health issues, but kept active tinkering in his shop.   His latest adventure was restoring his Military Flathead back to its original state.  Dan and his friend, Tom, took a marathon ride to California to pick this motorcycle up that had been stolen years prior.

Dan was the type of person that never wanted to show up late to an event.  The common joke around the household, when he was racing, was that he liked to see the water truck water the track down.  He said, “it was for a parking place”.  So if you plan on coming to pay your respects, please don’t dress up.  Dan will be there in spirit with his black baseball cap, black t-shirt (no sleeves), shorts and his crocs.

Dan is survived by his wife of 40 years, Kathleen; son, Travis (Karitta), of Clear Lake; daughters, Krista, of Mason City, and Andrea, of Swaledale; special family member, Mark Ruehlow; and Dan’s cat, Zookie; granddaughter, Makenna, of Clear Lake; grandson, Matthew, of Mason City; brothers, Andy, of Kingman, Az., John, of Phoenix, Az.; mother-in-law, Betty Lunn; brothers-in-law, Tim Lunn (Debbie) and Rick Lunn; uncle, Kenneth (Ruth) Anderson; aunts, Barbara Davidson, Norma Farrell; along with many nieces, nephew, cousins and friends.

Dan is preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Danette and April; brother, Doug; son, Bradley; father-in-law, George Lunn; brother-in-law, Jerry Lunn; and son-in-law, James Ruehlow.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, was in charge of arrangements.