Dean Lind

Dean K. Lind, husband of Gail, 84, of Hutchinson, formerly of Winthrop, Minn., passed away on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at Harmony River Living Center in Hutchinson. Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 1:30 p.m., at Dalin-Hantge Funeral Chapel in Winthrop, Minn., with private family interment in The Winthrop Cemetery. Memorials preferred to any charity of choice.

Dean was born on Nov. 28, 1939, to George and Minerva (Quist) Lind in St. Peter, Minn. He grew up on farms in New Sweden and Bernadotte Townships in Nicollet County, Minn. and attended Winthrop, Minn. High School where he met his wife of 61 years Gail (Johnson) Lind.

Dean will forever remain an example of how to lead a good life. He was a loving husband and father who lived with integrity, curiosity, generosity and balance. After his family the two great loves of his life were woodworking and cars.

Restoring cars was a running hobby for 35 years and there were many; starting with a 1930 Chevrolet with lifelong friends Roy and Ron and finishing with a 1955 Ford. In between there were a host of early Mustangs and many others.

He first developed his construction skills pounding nails at age three in the barn as entertainment while his parents milked the cows. He built a table saw at age 12 using an old grinder arbor, homemade table and fence with a 10” blade so he could produce his first kitchen cabinet for his mom. That cabinet is still rock solid and in use in his son’s shop. Even with that early start he retained 10 complete fingers to his last day, a testament to his skill and careful attention to details. His natural abilities were nurtured by his construction education at Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis.

During his entire career and well into his retirement he was building. He built houses early on as a carpenter, he built cabinets and beautiful furniture for houses, banks, churches and libraries. He and his partner Dale built a business devoted to building exceptional things all out wood. At age 80 he made and installed all the millwork and many built-in cabinets in his and Gail’s new home.

Dean was able to strike up a conversation with everyone he encountered. He was always curious to learn what others did, what they enjoyed and what they knew. He was generous with his time and knowledge and always willing to offer guidance or an opinion if you asked for it. It was obvious he enjoyed these encounters and sharing with others what he had learned from past encounters.

It was a full life extremely well-lived and this remembrance only hints at the fullness of it all.  In his younger years he sometimes drove cars with reckless abandon and raced homebuilt hydroplane boats when he didn’t know how to swim. The wanderlust that led to so many great vacations, his four years in the Air Force with Top Secret Crypto clearance, his work with Habitat for Humanity and so on.

Most importantly, along the entire arc of his life he was building up his family and friends and many others he helped. He will be lovingly remembered for his devotion to their betterment and concern for their welfare.

Dean is survived by his wife Gail of Hutchinson, Minn.; children: Scott (Marla) Lind of Ontario, Wis.; daughter Michele Lind of Storm Lake; grandson Jesse (Taira) Kraft of Sioux City; great-grandchildren: Rowen and Raegan Kraft of Sioux City; and his sister, Cindy (Norm) Bauer of Watertown, Minn.

Arrangements by the Dobratz-Hantge Funeral Chapel in Hutchinson. Online Obituaries and Guest Book available at www.hantge.com.