On December 20, 2021, Curtis Dale Lechner, 88, passed away peacefully at home in Gold Canyon, AZ under the care of his family and hospice.  Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at First Lutheran Church, Washburn with Pastor Chuck Mann officiating.  Interment will be held in the Riverview Cemetery, Washburn.  Visitation will be held from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM on Monday at the church.  The funeral service will be livestreamed at the bottom of this obituary.

Curtis was born on August 9,1933 to Otto and Winifred Lechner on the Lechner family farm near Washburn, ND.  He attended country school near Washburn and graduated from Washburn High School (salutatorian of his class) in 1951.  He also attended NDSU in Fargo, ND and participated in Army ROTC for a year and returned home to run the family farm.  He married the love of his life, Jean Tweeten, on November 7, 1955. Together, they raised two daughters, Teresa and Tamera.

From 1952 to 1985, Curtis ran the Lechner family farm as a part time business.  Curtis (with the help of young daughter Teresa) modernized the farm by removing no longer needed fences and laying out the fields for strip cropping.  Curtis maintained and repaired farm machinery and structures with the help of daughters Teresa and Tammy, teaching both his daughters valuable life skills.  For years, Curtis had a dream of expanding the family farm into a full-time business but was not able to do so.

In 1959, Curtis and Jean moved to Bismarck, ND. Curtis worked for Nash Finch in Bismarck, ND. He also worked for Calvert Drilling, Provident Life, North Dakota State Land Department and the North Dakota State Tax Department, all in Bismarck, ND.

In 1964, Curtis attended computer programming courses at IBM in Minneapolis, MN.  Later, in 1968, Curtis attended additional computer programming courses at North Dakota State College in Wahpeton, ND.

In 1968, Curtis joined Bismarck Junior College in Bismarck, ND as an instructor for its 2-year vocational computer programming program, launching a 19-year teaching career.  His students loved him, keeping in touch and inviting him to their life events for years afterward (e.g., weddings).  After BJC, Curtis continued teaching at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, ND.

Curtis worked as an Education Coordinator at NCDC in Mandan, ND.  At NCDC, Curtis' coworkers loved him, giving him Butterfinger bars and, on his retirement, a personalized sweat shirt.  Curtis enjoyed his coworkers and spoke of them often.

After retirement, Curtis worked a number of part time jobs to keep busy.  Pride Industries, Tweeten Farms, Hawktree Golf Course and Walmart all had the pleasure of Curtis as an employee. On at least one occasion as a Walmart associate, Curtis with the help of another associate prevented a would-be shoplifter from stealing a big screen TV.

In 2014, Curtis and Jean moved to Gold Canyon, AZ to be near daughter Tamera.

Curtis had many interests.  Curtis enjoyed boating, fishing, hunting and snowmobiling with his family.  Curtis trapped mink, muskrat and fox with daughter Teresa, hunted coyote, fox and rabbits with daughter Teresa, and hunted pheasants with daughter Tamera.  Curtis loved deer hunting but he did not enjoy venison.  He often donated his deer to those in need.

Curtis enjoyed bowling and playing horseshoes.  Curtis was on a bowling league with Zion Lutheran Church.

Curtis also enjoyed seeing the countryside and wildlife.  In Fall of 2015, Curtis and Jean traveled to Estes Park, CO to spend time with daughter Teresa, son-in-law Jeffrey and grandson Dustin.  During a drive through the mountains, they saw numerous mountain sheep and other wildlife, but no elk.  Later, while eating some lunch, Curtis spotted a trophy bull elk moving his herd slowly past a picture window of their Pondersosa cabin.  While safely in the cabin, everyone got a really good look at the bull elk before he disappeared over a hillside.

In the Fall of 2016, Curtis and Jean traveled to Ruidoso, NM to spend time with daughter Teresa, son-in-law Jeffrey and grandson Dustin.  While at Ruidoso Downs Race Track, they enjoyed watching the hot-blooded quarter horses, especially a parade of horses before each race.  Curtis won more races than he lost, earning enough to cover admittance, bets and snacks for the day.  Later, that evening, Curtis spotted several mule deer does close to their Moose Manor cabin.  While safely on a porch of the cabin, everyone got to feed pieces of watermelon to the does.

Earlier this fall, Curtis and Jean travelled to Show Low, AZ with daughter Tamera to visit the wooded property that she and Leo recently purchased. He thoroughly enjoyed this outing and spoke of it often.

Curtis is survived by his wife Jean Lechner; daughter and son-in-law Teresa Lechner-Fish and Jeffrey Fish of Katy, TX; daughter and son-in-law Tamera Lechner and Leo Gonzales of Apache Junction, AZ; grandson Dustin Fish of Katy, TX; sister Mavis (Wilber) Pfennig of Bismarck, ND; brother-in-law James Vonderheide of Coal Valley, IL; sisters-in-law Loretta Lechner of Mantorville, MN and Kitty Tweeten of Washburn, ND; and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother Robert Lechner, one sister Betty Bauer, son Monte Lechner and nephew Dean Lechner.