Bruce Duane Speer

Bruce Duane Speer, 83, of Fargo, ND, formerly of Lake Park, MN, passed away on July 10, 2025, at Elim Care Center, under the care of Sanford Hospice, in Fargo, ND.

Bruce Duane Speer was born on October 3, 1941, in Moorhead, MN. He grew up on the family farm in Felton, MN, working on the farm with his father and his brother, Lynn. He graduated from Felton High School in 1959 and began working for the Felton elevator while continuing to work for his dad on the family farm. He married Mary Desjardins in December 1959.

In 1967, Bruce moved to Lake Park, MN, where he worked a series of jobs, including for the Lake Park Farmers’ Coop and mechanic work for a local trucking company. He was a founding member of the Detroit Lakes Skipper’s Barbershop Chorus until he began his long career with the Lake Park Volunteer Fire Department, an organization he truly loved and poured a lot of his time and energy into. Because of his time in the fire department, he formed strong bonds with many longtime friends. He was in the department when they constructed their current fire hall and even served as fire chief for 6 years. He helped with much of the work maintaining the fire trucks and almost single-handedly kept the 1937 parade unit running, driving it to many parades in the surrounding area. In 1978 he founded Park Products Inc., affectionately known as “the nuthouse”, which operated until it’s closing in 1985. He then worked a series of jobs which included driving truck for Charles Kvare, as an auto mechanic for Allan “Andy” Anderson, and as a road construction worker for Nelson Construction Inc. He accepted a position as a fabricator for Concord Inc. in Hawley, MN, in 1995 where he worked until his retirement in 2002. One of his highlights working at Concord was his assistance in fabricating and prototyping ATV attachments for Agricultural use.

Bruce and Mary divorced in 1994. In 1997, he married Leslie Waxler who unfortunately succumbed to cancer in January of 2000. He married Terri Ryden in 2002 and adopted her children, Kesa and Wes. They were divorced in 2008. He later redeveloped an amicable friendship with his first wife Mary, until her death in 2020.

Throughout his life and during much of his retirement, Bruce enjoyed many activities with his family and close friends. He loved to work on basically anything with an engine including cars, boats, snowmobiles, large equipment, and mowers. He was especially fond of old cars and was able to own two of them which he took to parades and car shows during his retirement. As a younger man he frequently went snowmobiling with his friends in the winter and was a charter member of the Midnite Riders. In the winter of 1990, he placed an ad in the local paper asking anyone who wanted to go on a snowmobile ride that they should show up in Lake Park on the first Saturday in February, which was something many hadn’t done in years due to the lack of snow. The only requirement was that their snowmobile had to be at least 18 years old or older. This first ride was the beginning of the Lake Park “Old Timers Run” which was eventually taken up by the Midnite Riders Club and expanded to the major event that it is today.

Bruce would travel to Felton during harvest time and help his brother, Lynn, with the harvest for many years. He enjoyed deer hunting at the “cabin” by Itasca Park, fishing, and staying at “Emil’s Sunset Beach” the family-owned property purchased by his grandfather, Emil Goranson at Little Toad Lake. He loved working at the fire department and spending time socializing with his family and friends around the Lake Park Area. Bruce was a member of the Eagle’s Club in Detroit Lakes for many years.

Bruce is survived by his five children, Donna Sheffey, Watervliet, MI, Doreen (Myron) Knodel, Glyndon, MN, Bruce “Chuck” (Kerrie) Speer, Long Prairie, MN, Kesa (Jayson) Quinlan, Coon Rapids, MN, and Wesley Ryden-Speer, Frazee, MN; 10 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; brother, Joe (Kolynn) Speer, Ulen, MN; sister, Carol Maki, Felton, MN; and many other loving relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Ellen Speer; sons, Duane Speer and Christopher Speer; his second wife, Leslie Speer; and two brothers, Darrell “Pete” Speer and Lynn Speer.

Visitation will be from 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M., followed by the memorial service at 3:00 P.M., Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Wright Funeral Home, Hawley, MN. A livestream of the service will be available here on Bruce’s webpage. Burial will be at Eksjo Lutheran Cemetery, rural Hawley, MN, following the services in Hawley.