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Donald “Duane” Bliss
Donald “Duane” Bliss
Marion
Donald “Duane” Bliss, 84, of Marion, Iowa, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Family will greet friends and family from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Marion. Casual dress is requested. Wear your “Bliss Custom Rods” gear. A private graveside service will be held at a later date at Lenox Cemetery in Norway, Iowa.
Duane was born on April 19, 1938, on Witwer Farm in Marion, the son of Albert and Margaret (Robison) Bliss. He was a 1956 graduate of McKinley High School in Cedar Rapids, where he was named to the All-City basketball team. On Nov. 24, 1956, Don married “the prettiest girl in Norway,” Maxine “Cookie” Uthoff. Together they raised six children. Don started at Collins Radio as a Draftsman, and worked there for 35 and a half years, many of those years in Configuration Management, before retiring in 1993. After retirement, he went on to start Bliss Custom Rods, putting his passion for fishing into every rod he built.
Don enjoyed working on cars and keeping them running for six teenaged drivers. He also enjoyed woodworking, loved fishing and spending time with his family at home.
Left to cherish his memory are his children, Dean (Julie) Bliss of Cedar Rapids, Sandi Bliss of Texas, Dan (Dawn) Bliss, Sue Bliss and Sara (Kirk) Schobert, all of Marion; 15 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; his sister, Joan (Tom) Leso and her family of Virginia; sisters-in-law, Dolores Rawson, Berti Rhinehart and Marjorie Beatty; many nieces and nephews; and special extended family, Arlene (Scott) Walters and Tina (Dave) Kearns and their children; and Kitty.
He was preceded in death by his parents; beloved wife, Cookie; sisters-in-law, Dorothy Wittenburg, Arlene Wear, and Virginia Roths; brothers-in-law, Walter Uthoff, and David Uthoff; son, David; and granddaughter, Rowan.
A special thanks to Dr. Lawrence, Dr. Bell, and the Palliative Care team, the entire Unity Point St. Luke’s ICU team, and the Ed and Joan Hemphill Hospice team.
Please share a memory of Don at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.
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