Duane W. Maas

Maas, Duane W. of Bloomington, MN, passed away Thursday, March 31, 2016 at age 76. He was born to Walter and Lydia Maas of Jamestown, ND, the second of their six children. He grew up working on his parents' farm and was active in 4-H. He attended both Buchanan and Jamestown high schools, graduating from Jamestown in 1957. In 1961, he graduated from North Dakota State University with a B.S. in Mathematics and minors in Physics, Economics, and German -- with a sophomore year spent at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he was able to pursue his interest in astronomy. One of his proudest moments was his performance in Gershwin's "Of Thee I Sing" with NDSU's Little Country Theatre. From 1961 to 1965, he taught high school mathematics, science, and German in Wing and Buffalo, ND. Duane completed his M.S. in Mathematics with an Education minor at NDSU in 1969 while working as a Mathematician on some of the earliest intercontinental trajectory systems for Remington Rand Univac in St. Paul, MN. Shortly thereafter, he moved briefly to Azusa, CA to work for Aerojet-General. On April 4, 1970, he married the love of his life, Margaret "Peggy" (nee Newman) of St. Paul. During the 1970s, Duane worked at Control Data and Sperry Univac. In October 1982, he co-founded Office Information Systems ("OIS"), a successful local staffing business. In the early 1980s, Duane and his business partner successfully designed and built the first automated coin-counting machine for the blind using voice-synthesis technology. After leaving OIS, Duane returned to software engineering for Lockheed Martin's Tactical Avionics group (1997 - 2002), Oracle's Retek division, and Honeywell's commercial avionics group. In 2008, Duane was delighted to return to one of his first career passions, teaching, as a mathematics instructor at Mankato State University. Duane retired in 2012 and spent his free time working on his antique cars, tractors, and farm machinery at his hobby farm in Henderson, MN. He had a deep faith and an abiding interest in religion and was active in and supported the Gideons. He was also passionate about his family's German history, stories, and genealogy -- studying German and taking several trips to Germany and Poland to meet with relatives and help research family ancestry with his brother Gene. Duane also remained engaged in mathematics, computer programming, history, and world affairs virtually every day of his life. He loved his wife, children, and grandchildren and is greatly missed. He is survived by his wife Peggy, son Daniel, daughter Katherine (married to David Williams), grandchildren Van and Holiday Williams, siblings Gene (Norma), Donna (Wayne), Tees, Marvin (Jane), Ronald (Charlotte), and Carol (Jim). Memorial service to be held Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 2pm (visitation begins 1 hour prior) at Washburn-McReavy: Werness Brothers, 2300 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington, MN 55431. Memorials suggested to "Mt. Hope Lutheran Church," "N.C. Little Hospice," and the "Prostate Cancer Foundation." Washburn-McReavy.com Werness Brothers 952-884-8145

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Duane W. Maas

March 31, 2016

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