Duane O. Watt

Duane O. Watt, age 84 of Litchfield, Minnesota died on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at Meeker Memorial Hospital in Litchfield. He had been in declining health and was at peace with his situation and was ready to go be with his beloved wife who had passed eleven months prior. Visitation will be on Friday, January 5, 2024, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Church of the Nazarene in Litchfield. Visitation will continue on Saturday from 12:00 pm until 1:00 pm at the church. A Memorial Service will be held at Church of the Nazarene in Litchfield on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 1:00 pm. The clergy will be Rev. Michael Lowenberg. Interment will be at Ripley Cemetery in Litchfield. Military Honors will be provided by Litchfield Military Honor Guard. Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

Duane Otto Watt was born in Nevada, Iowa, on October 16, 1939. The youngest of six children and the only son of John and Margret (Thompson) Watt, Duane grew up on a farm in Iowa. He learned the value of hard work from his parents who had both lived through the Great Depression. When Duane was 11 years old, his mother passed away, and he had to run a mile down a country road in order to use a phone. That experience resulted in him and his dad having a very close relationship for the rest of their lives. Duane graduated from Colo High School in 1957. He soon after met the love of his life Gerry and they were married in the spring of 1958; they shared nearly 65 years of marriage together! Duane and Gerry first lived in Marshalltown, Iowa. In 1960 they moved to Missoula, Montana. Duane was a member of the Montana National Guard and later transferred to the Minnesota National Guard and was honorably discharged after 8 years of service to his country. He and Gerry stayed in Montana through 1964, where their son John was born. In 1965 they moved to Litchfield where Duane opened his own body shop which he operated until 1991. In Litchfield he and Gerry had three other sons, Jim, Jason, and Jeff.

While in Montana, Duane’s passion for hunting grew as he became an excellent hunter of elk and deer. To say Duane was a jack of all trades would be an understatement. He started building custom hunting rifles for friends in the early 1960’s and that continued for several decades. When his boys became old enough to hunt, they, along with Duane’s best friend and long-time hunting partner, Alva Larson, spent every November deer hunting at a hunting shack near Pequot Lakes, Minnesota where many great memories were made.  A self-taught man, Duane had a brilliant mechanical mind that became evident when he became interested in snowmobiles. In the mid-1970’s Duane went to work for the Brut snowmobile company where he was part of the research and development team that built and designed the Quick Shift Snowmobile clutch. That clutch later became standard on all Brut snowmobiles and later on Scorpion snowmobiles. In the 1990’s Duane came out with his own ideas for a high-performance snowmobile clutch, and he received four patents for the Paragon high performance clutch. He traveled throughout the western US mountain states snowmobiling and testing the clutch in mountain conditions and at a variety of races and competitions. Duane was known in the snowmobile racing world as the “clutch guru” as he would adjust based on how he saw a sled perform. He made many friends in the snowmobile industry over the years and was always well liked and respected by all he crossed paths with in life.

Duane was never a man to just sit around, he was always busy working or pursuing his favorite hobbies. He loved to have fun and the wide variety of endeavors and work he pursued reflected that. His big grin was infectious and a common site. As a father, he set an example for his children of what a good and decent man is: honest, hardworking, and loving those close to him, especially his wife and sons. He brought his sons up sharing his passion for the outdoors. Snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, trapshooting (he was one of the best trap shooters in the entire state) and archery, which he especially loved, were some of his favorite ways to pursue fun times. He was bow hunting in the 1960’s before it was a “thing” and had an Allen compound bow immediately after it became the first compound bow on the market. In retirement, he spent many days at Minnesota Archery, a family run archery shop in Litchfield. He was the Minnesota Senior Archery Champion when he was in his 70’s.

Duane and Gerry bought an abandoned farmhouse in the country in 1974. You could add carpenter to his list of many trades as he gutted and restored the old farmhouse mostly by himself. They moved their family to the country in 1977. He was happy to have his family out in the country and was always glad that his boys were raised in the country. Duane became a proud grandfather to seven grandchildren. He was always happy to see them when they visited, or he visited them, and was always happy to hear how they were doing. Duane lived an amazing life. Of all his accomplishments, the ones he was most proud of were being a loving husband to Gerry and an amazing dad and a grandfather.

Duane was preceded in death by his loving wife, Gerry Watt, 11 months prior; parents, John and Margaret Watt; step-mother, Opal Watt; parents-in-law, Jim and Borgie Gunter and Pat and Marie Wood; sisters, Florence (Gene) Bentley, Mary (Don) Minor, Martha (Leeland) Moon, and Lori Nichol; nieces and nephews, Pam Nichol, John (Barb) Moon, David Hall, and Jennifer Bergstrom; and brothers and sisters-in-law, Dale Wood, Dorothy (Larry) Mohr, Ken Fenner, Steve Gunter, and Brenda Gunter.

He is survived by his sons, John (Liz) Watt of Ely, NV, Jim Watt (fiancé Shawn Thomas) of Litchfield, MN and Somerville, TN, Jason (Corina) Watt of Rochester, WA, and Jeff Watt of Watertown, SD; grandchildren, Anna Watt of Salt Lake City, UT, Emma Watt of Ely, NV, Palmer, Jens and Otto Watt of Rochester, WA,  Dylan Watt of Litchfield, MN, and Sophia (Riley) Grabow of Alexandria, MN; step-grandchildren, Britton Walker of Seattle, WA and McKenna Walker of St. Cloud, MN; sister, Phyllis Hall of Blair, NE; brothers and sisters-in-law, Anita Wood, Lola (Ron) Thomton, and Colleen Fenner, all of Litchfield, MN, Julie (John) Bergstrom of New London, MN, and Robin Wood of Grass Valley, CA. Duane will also be missed by many nieces, nephews, and many longtime friends.