Ernest Fredrick Ness, 90, Vernon Township
Ernest Fredrick Ness, born March 6, 1932, in Vernon Township, Dodge County, went to be with the Lord on April 14, 2022.
Ernie (as everyone knew him) was born to Edwin and Helma Ness on the family farm south of Kasson. He was raised there with his four brothers and two sisters.
He attended country school through the seventh grade. His love of horses began when he rode his pony to school every day. He attended and graduated from Kasson High School in 1950 where he excelled in basketball and track.
School is where he met the love of his life and future wife of nearly 72 years, Margaret Van Allen. The first time he laid eyes on her, he told a friend that she was the girl he was going to marry. They courted on horses and participated in horse shows and parades. Ernie and Margaret shared a mutual love of horses and one of their favorite activities in later years was attending harness races together. Ernie enjoyed many trips to Montana, as well as Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas seeing those areas and visiting family and friends.
Ernie was a lifelong member of South Zumbro Lutheran Church. He was baptized, confirmed and married there. He was active in Luther League and served on the Cemetery Board for 20 years. His faith was extremely important to him, and he instilled those values into each of his seven children.
Through the years, he held jobs as a painter, farm laborer, fuel carrier for 17 years, along with hauling livestock, and was a substitute bus driver. He eventually went to work at the Mayo Clinic as a custodian, retiring after 24 years of service. During this time, he also owned and operated a forty-acre farm where he raised his family.
Ernie is survived by his wife Margaret; children Dallas (Sharon) Ness, Brenda (Ike) Currier, Monica (Tony) Brossard, Brian (Bonnie) Ness, Keith (Colleen) Ness, Carmen Hirman, and Rhonda (Steve) Larson. He is also survived by his brother Frank (Sandra) Ness; sisters-in-law Colleen Ness, Lorraine Ness, and Virginia Van Allen; brother-in-law Gordon Van Allen, 20 grandchildren, soon to be 29 great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings Stanley (Alice) Ness, Davis Ness, Doris (Leonard) Iverson, Manford Ness, and Betty Wohlfiel (Melvin Kramer, Kenneth Wohlfiel); brother-in-law Walter Van Allen; sister-in-law Deanna Van Allen, and his beloved dog Dee Dee.
Services will be held at South Zumbro Lutheran Church, rural Kasson, on Thursday, April 21, at 2 p.m. with Pastors Pete Wyttenbach and Jeff Bernards officiating. Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to South Zumbro Lutheran Church.
Dibble Funeral Home & Cremation Services — Kasson is handling arrangements. Online condolences may be shared at www.dibblefuneralhome. com.