DuWayne Sauer, 96, died Friday, Nov. 28, at the SMP Health – St. Raphael care center in Valley City, ND.

DuWayne Morris Sauer was born July 8, 1929, in Valley City to Philip and Pauline Sauer. The second of five children, he attended Franklin School, a one-room schoolhouse in Hemen Township. DuWayne graduated from St. Catherine’s High School in 1947, briefly attending the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. In 1948 he returned to farm with his father and brothers Dale and David near Sanborn, ND, on the land homesteaded by his grandfather, John Sauer. 

He married Phyllis Jeannine Jansen on June 16, 1953, in Sanborn, where they began raising a family of six children. DuWayne used many of his skills — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, carpentry — to help keep the home and farm running. DuWayne and his brothers farmed a variety of small grains and raised prize-winning Shorthorn cattle. The Sauer Farms operation grew to include a grain elevator and provided seed-cleaning and fertilizer services to area farmers.

DuWayne served as Hemen Township Clerk and on the Barnes County Rural Water Board. As Barnes County Committeeman for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, he worked with local farmers to set aside crops in exchange for USDA payments. In the 1980s, he served on the board of directors of First Bank in Valley City.

Retiring with Phyllis to winters in Sun City West, AZ, they were active in the North Dakota Club. DuWayne helped spearhead the yearly fund-raising luminaria project there, devising a mechanism to help fill bags with sand for candle kits to light the walkways of houses throughout their community. They later returned full time to Valley City, where DuWayne and Phyllis lived in Landmark II and together served Meals on Wheels. DuWayne also enjoyed his holiday stints as a Salvation Army bell ringer at the Pamida store.

A fierce pinochle player, DuWayne also exhibited award-winning canned beets and gifted his children with his woodworking projects of cookbook holders and luggage racks. While he enjoyed volunteering, DuWayne’s greatest joy was in the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren, donning a shirt emblazoned with whatever college insignia applied when expecting their visits. He favored word searches over crosswords and had a brief but intense infatuation with Words with Friends.

DuWayne moved to the nursing home in 2024 at the age of 94, in no small part because he was finally ready to relinquish his cooking duties. His wry humor was appreciated by all who knew him, including his caregivers there.

DuWayne is survived by daughters Cindy Fitzner (Mark) and Carol Perkins (Jerry), both of Valley City; sons Tim (Kathy), Fairfax, VA; Terry (Kim), Minneapolis, MN; Jon (Shelly), The Woodlands, TX, and James, Houston, TX; brothers Dale (Millie), Bismarck, ND, and David (Pat), Scottsdale, AZ; 12 grandchildren Ashley Bakkegard (Andy), West Fargo, ND; Carly Willson (Mike), Fargo, ND; Dan Fitzner (Bethany), Bismarck; Katie Sauer (Chris), San Diego, CA; Beret Claire Sauer, Chicago, IL; Drew Sauer (Marissa), Devin Sauer (Lindsey), Connor Sauer (Makayla) and Cameron Sauer (Rosalia), all of Houston; Brittany Schaan (Adam), Mapleton, ND; Cassidy Wendler (Eric), Coralville, IA; and Michael Wendler, Fargo; 14 great-grandchildren Brynn, Norah and Hadley Bakkegard; Jase and Braeley Willson; Finlee and Haislee Fitzner; Jack Atallah; Emma, Avery, Reese and Natalie Sauer, and Hudson and Sylas Schaan, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Phyllis in 2019, brother Donald Sauer and sister Darlene Borman.

DuWayne was a director, deacon and a member of Knights of Columbus at Sacred Heart Church in Sanborn and a member of St. Catherine’s Church in Valley City, where his funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Visitation will be one hour before the service. The service will be live streamed, then archived, on a link provided along with his obituary on his tribute page at www.lerudmathias.com.  An online guestbook is available there as well.

Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery.  Memorials to Sacred Heart Church or Sacred Heart Cemetery are preferred.