Duane Francis Pansegrau

Duane Francis Pansegrau, 94, of Bella Vista, Arkansas passed away on June 4, 2025. He was born November 26, 1930, in Sioux City, Iowa; the first of three sons born to Adolph and Ruth Pansegrau. He was baptized into the Christian faith shortly after birth.

His early years were spent in Sioux City and was joined by brothers, Marvin and Donald before they moved to a farm near Sioux City when he was nine years old. The family moved to a larger farm near Bronson, Iowa, in 1942.

He always enjoyed farm life and hard work, but in high school, he began to aspire to become a physician. He graduated from Bronson High School in 1948 as valedictorian. He then entered pre-med studies at Morningside College in Sioux City for two years and transferred to the University of Iowa as a junior, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 with high honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In the fall he began his studies for medical school. In his sophomore year he met the love of his life, Cynthia, a student nurse, on a blind date. He received his Doctor of Medicine in June 1956 and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society for academic excellence. During college and medical school, he worked as an orderly, lab technician, extern, and had a board job at a medical fraternity.

Cynthia graduated in August, receiving a Bachelor of Science in nursing. They were married two days later, on August 10, 1956, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Chapel in Iowa City. After their honeymoon, they moved to Des Moines, Duane as an intern and Cynthia a staff nurse at Broadlawn County Hospital. After the year’s internship, they returned to Iowa City for a residency in surgery. This ended when Duane was drafted into the USAF in 1958. He had the rank of Captain and was assistant chief of surgery at the base hospital. While in the Air Force, Paul and then Susan were both born. Upon discharge there were insufficient finances to return to residency, so he took a position with a family doctor in Karlstad, MN, for 2 1/2 years. Returning to University Hospitals, he completed his surgical training in 1965. He then joined the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin where their third child, Rebecca, was born. He joined the Grand Forks Clinic in 1966, where he spent the next 25 years. During this period, he served as Chairman of the Surgery Department at Deaconess, St. Michael’s, and United Hospital for a total of 17 years. He was actively involved at the UND School of Medicine, beginning as a surgery instructor. He was diligent in developing the surgical residency at UND and served as Program Director the last year of his surgical practice. When he became Program Director, he was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of Surgery. After retirement from full-time practice, he served as a “fill in” surgeon on multiple occasions in Miles City, MT, as well as appearing in court as an expert witness for several years.

Following complete retirement, he and Cynthia moved to Bella Vista, AR, where they spent their winters. Summers were spent at the cabin in Canada on Lake of the Woods. Duane continued his hobbies of hunting, fishing, and flying well into his 80’s. Over five winters in Arkansas, he built an amphibious airplane in his shop. He took several days flying the home built plane to Lake of the Woods in Canada, where he enjoyed flying around the lake and nearby scenic views. He held commercial, instrument, and sea plane ratings. Cynthia’s was an instrument rated pilot, and they flew all over the lower 48 states and to Alaska for a month. With the onset of Covid, he and Cynthia become Arkansas residents. They made one final trip to the cabin in 2021.

He was a life-long Lutheran and served as elder, teacher, and congregational chairman for many years.

Duane was preceded in death by and is reuniting in heaven with his beloved wife of 68 years, Cynthia; his parents, Adolph & Ruth Pansegrau; in-laws, C. Vernon & Renata Johnson and Miriam (Gutknecht) Johnson; and sisters-in-law, Anita Pansegrau & Sue Pansegrau.

Duane is survived by his children, son, Paul (Andrea); daughters, Susan (Jim) Behnken, and Becky (Ron) Bequette; seven grandchildren, Jacob (Carrie) Behnken, Kelly (Russ) VanDerWerff, Katie (Josh) Gebert, Joshua (Kyla) Behnken, Christopher (Christie) Pansegrau, Lydia Pansegrau, and Daniel Bequette; two step grandchildren, Mike (JoAnna) Bequette and Joe (Margaret) Bequette; 15 great grandchildren; siblings, Marvin Pansegrau and Donald Pansegrau; brother-in-law, Douglas (Glenna) Johnson and sister-in-law, Marcia (Ralph) Hecox. He also leaves behind his beloved companion, Kip, who watched over him lovingly in his last days.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Hiwasse (Bella Vista) or charity of your choice.

Private interment with military honors handled by Amundson Funeral and Cremation Service will be in Memorial Park North Cemetery, Grand Forks.