Richard 'Dick' H. Quitney

MASON CITY Richard H. Quitney, 81, of Mason City, died Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit. Memorial services will be held 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 30, 2011, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Ave., with Pastor Kathy Graves officiating. Inurnment will be in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery with Military Rites being performed by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association. Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM 7:00 PM on Friday, April 29, 2011, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 North Pennsylvania Avenue. Per Richards request, he will be cremated following the visitation. Memorials may be directed to the Richard Quitney Memorial Fund.

Richard was born June 30, 1929, the son of Martha and Martin Quitney. He was one of nine children raised on a farm in Waseca, MN. He attended country school and high school in Waseca, MN. He served in the military during the Occupation of Japan and received an honorable discharge. He held various jobs during his lifetime including driving truck for Witiver Gro. Co. and a conductor on the Milwaukee and then Soo railroad for 35 years. He was a very active UTU union member. He was united in marriage to Meridith Berhow in 1950, and to this union came three children. He married Connie Fitzgerald in 1975 and a family we became. They lived in Mason City until his retirement in 1991, when they moved to Northern Minnesota. While there, Richard was very active in the Cross Lake Lutheran Church, serving on the church council and loved ushering during the outdoor service in the woods. Richard was a lifetime member of the VFW and Sons of Norway. He was also a long-term member of Trinity Lutheran Church. His greatest love was his family, but he also enjoyed fishing, hunting, solitaire, watching the Minnesota Vikings and Twins, and his winters in Bullhead City, AZ.

Those left to cherish his memory are his devoted wife, Connie; children, Nadine Pals and husband Tony (deceased), Debbie Quitney and wife Jennifer, Russell Quitney, Paul Fitzgerald and wife Dianne, Patti Petersen and husband Gary, Pam Osgood and husband Dan, Mike Fitzgerald and Danny, and Jim Fitzgerald; 23 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; siblings, Mildred Fish of Minneapolis, MN, Clifford Quitney of Mason City, Barbara Connelly and husband John of Litchfield, MN.

He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Meridith; sisters, Gladys, Adeline, and Norma; brothers, Lester and Vernon; son in-law, Tony Pals; grandson, Daniel Pals.

Memorials:
Memorials may be directed to the Richard Quitney Memorial Fund.

Cemetery:
Inurnment will be in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery with Military Rites being performed by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association.

Visitation:
Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM 7:00 PM on Friday, April 29, 2011, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 North Pennsylvania Avenue.

Service:
Memorial services will be held 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 30, 2011, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Ave., with Pastor Kathy Graves officiating.