Leo Dogotch

Leo Jacob Dogotch, son of Frank and Katie (Falb) Dogotch, was born December 19, 1915 at the family home in Whittemore, Iowa. Leo grew up and received his schooling in the Whittemore and West Bend, Iowa area. After his schooling, he worked on the family farm. In July 1942, Leo was baptized at the West Bend Apostolic Christian Church, and a few days later, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served his country during WWII from 1942 to 1945, and was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Following his discharge, Leo came home to farm near West Bend. On July 6, 1947, he was united in marriage to Thelma Koehl. The couple was married by faith at the Apostolic Christian Church in Peoria, IL, and to this union, eight children were born. They continued farming in the West Bend area until 1962, when they purchased a farm near Hancock, Minnesota. They have been members of the Apostolic Christian Church near Morris since that time. Leo and Thelma lived on the farm until 1980, when they moved to their current home in Hancock.



Some of Leo's favorite activities included fishing, playing scrabble and doing puzzles with Thelma and helping out his friends at Valu Ford & Chrysler in Morris. Most of all, he loved spending time with his entire family.



Leo died on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at the Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, MN, having lived to reach the age of 92 years.



He is survived by his wife: Thelma Dogotch of Hancock; eight children: Marg Dogotch (Jeff Hunter) of Hood River, OR, Pam (Steve) Schaefer of Hancock, Tom (Collen) Dogotch of Morris, Nancy (Tony) Messner of Hancock, Deb (Fred) Collom of Hancock, Kathy (Scott) Strahm of Emporia, KS, Jan (Randy) Pederson of Thief River Falls and Sara (Steve) Wevley of Hoffman; 29 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; two brothers: Delbert (Norma) Dogotch of West Bend, IA and Frank Jr. (Mary Ann) Dogotch of Whittemore, IA; one sister: Dorothy (Clem) Mergen of Estherville, IA; one sister-in-law: Marjorie Koehl of Morris and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Lewis and one granddaughter: Melissa Strahm.