DURWOOD “BUD” LOUIS FEHRMAN was born on June 10, 1934 to Louis and Meda (Babcock) Fehrman in Diamond Lake Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota. He was raised and lived most of his life in Diamond Lake Township and Ash Lake Township (Lincoln County, MN) with the exception of two years he spent in the United States Army. He was united in marriage on February 15, 1958 to Ardis June Johnson at Diamond Lake Lutheran Church. They farmed in Diamond Lake Township until 1985 when they moved in to Lake Benton where they resided until Ardis’ death on July 10, 2009. He then moved to Ash Lake Township where he started farming again after 35 years of excavating work for Pat Sterzinger Excavating, D & G Excavating, and A & C Excavating. He farmed until November of 2018 when he retired. He continued to live at home until June 24, 2019 when he entered into hospice care. He passed away peacefully at Paul & Sandy’s home on Friday, July 5, 2019 at the age of 85 years and 25 days, after battling lung cancer.
Bud was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Lake Benton. Through the years he was a member of the Arco Elevator Board, the Buffalo Ridge Two Cylinder Club, and the Henry Sollie American Legion Post #10. Bud was a South Dakota State Golden Gloves boxing champion as well as an avid bowler for over 50 years. Another one of his passions was restoring and pulling antique John Deere tractors; he won over 300 trophies in over 30 years of competition. One of his unique talents was water witching, and he also played many years of fast pitch softball with the Lake Benton Green Team. Bud was known for his sense of humor. His favorite saying in high school was, “I want to be bashful, but the girls won’t let me.” He was also known to say, “If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.”
Bud is lovingly remembered by his four children, Paul (Sandy) Fehrman of Lake Benton, Lisa (Loren) Hansen of Redwood Falls, MN, Jay Fehrman of Arden Hills, MN, Jon (Jessie Jo) Fehrman of Sioux Falls, SD; special friend, Mavis Bruening of Marshall, MN; 12 grandchildren, Sara, Amanda, Dan, Christina, Jenna, Tanner, Callie, Louise, Kendra, Ethan, Twillight, and Neil; four great-grandchildren, Gage and Abbie Hanson, Cohen and Alec Erickson; and one sister, Mary Ann Koopman of Ivanhoe, MN. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ardis; his parents, Louis and Meda; one son, Vernon; and one daughter-in-law, Lori Fehrman.
