Curtis H. Smook

CURTIS "CURT" HAROLD SMOOK was born June 4, 1949 to Harold and Marjorie (Donth) Smook at the (Old Wooden) Luverne Community Hospital in Luverne, Minnesota. Curt was raised in Magnolia, Minnesota and attended school there. He helped his grandfather with shelling corn, scooping corn, and baling hay. He played youth sports, mainly football and basketball. He absolutely loved working on cars with his buddies and driving them hard. Curt volunteered for the SeaBees, a branch of the US Navy, from 1968-1971. He served in Vietnam from January 1969 to September 1969. Curt met his future wife one October at a Halloween party. On March 26, 1971, Curt was united in marriage to Mary Jane Hogenson at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. The couple began their married life in a rented apartment in Luverne. Curt worked at the Mobile Truckstop on Cliff Avenue on the northside of I-90 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then worked on the farm for Gene Cragoe and then worked for Hansen Silo for a season. In the fall of 1971, Curt began trucking over-the-road hauling grain. At this time, the couple moved to Dilworth, Minnesota. In 1974, they returned to Luverne and Curt worked for Midwest Coast Transport trucking out of Sioux Falls. In November, they moved to a house in Magnolia where they made their permanent home. In 1977, Curt stopped drinking and continued his sobriety for the remainder of his life. In 1984, Curt bought his own truck and leased it to Midwest Coast for six years. Then he started hauling to the West Coast for American Midwest out of Wilmar, Minnesota and Midwest Transport out of New Ulm, Minnesota. The last six years before his retirement, he worked for B & G Transport out of Madison, South Dakota taking routes to Kalamazoo, Michigan. He officially retired in July of 2014, but would continue working part-time to keep himself busy and to help various people including CHS Elevator in Magnolia, Steve Bendts Trucking and Don Arends Trucking. On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, while at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne, Minnesota, Curt went to his home in Heaven at the age of 72 years, ten months and eight days.

Curt was a member of the United Methodist Church in Magnolia. He enjoyed camping and going on cruises. He enjoyed a hobby of collecting model railroad trains. His love for travel often included stops at train museums and other places that had particular history in regard to trains. He was the proud owner of a 1965 Cushman Super Silver Eagle Scooter. He belonged to the State and National Cushman Clubs. In 2017, he entered it in the local parade. Curt loved his wife Mary very much and he affectionately called her “his little sweetie” which she loved (she was only 5’1”). Often he would mention to others a joke he saw on Facebook, “Short girls are like cuddly little teddy bears, until you make them mad. Then they become rabid chipmunks.”

Curt is survived by his wife, Mary; children, Jane (Randy) Baker of Steen, Minnesota; Matthew (Ann) Smook of Luverne; and Kay (Craig) Wynia of Rock Rapids, Iowa; grandchildren, Emma, Cole, and Kelsey Baker, Jacob Munger and Marissa (Derek) Tuttle, and Braden (fiancé, Brianna Van Veldhuizen), Mason, and Melanie Wynia; siblings, Randy (Vicki) Smook of Luverne, Kevin Smook of Magnolia, and Jenalee (Allen) Klein of Ft. Meyers, Florida; sister-in-law, Arlene Smook; and numerous relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Marjorie Smook; brothers, Myron and Dennis Smook; and grandparents, Ed and Jenny Donth and Henry and Tillie Smook.