Donald Hermanson of Thief River Falls, MN, age 93 died Sunday May 10, 2015 at Thief River Care Center, Thief River Falls, MN with his loving wife, Audrey at his side. The funeral will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls, MN with Rev. John Voelker officiating. Military honors will be provided by the Ecklund-Holmstrom American Legion Post #117, Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post #2793 and the Minnesota Army National Guard Honor Guard. Lunch will be served following the military honors at Trinity Lutheran Church. The burial will follow at St. Petri Cemetery near Brandon, MN off of County Road 15 at 3:00 PM on Saturday. Lunch will be served at St. Petri Church following the burial. Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a 7:00 PM prayer service on Friday, May 22, 2015 at Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River Falls, MN. Visitation will also be held from 9:00 AM until 10:00 AM on Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church. Donald Kenneth Hermanson was born October 30, 1921 on the family farm in Douglas County, Brandon, MN the son of Reuben and Mayme (Lindquist) Hermanson. He was baptized and confirmed at the Mission Covenant Church in the country. He attended school at Brandon, graduating in 1939. Don worked on the family farm and area farms until being drafted in the United States Army on August 18, 1942 at Fort Snelling. He attended schooling in Sedalia, MO, Tampa, FL, Savannah, GA and in California as a teletype operator in the Air Force. He was shipped to Bora Bora, New Caledonia and then to Hawaii where his assignment was to Iwo Jima for 9 months until the end of World War II, arriving home November 2, 1945. He was a CPL and Teletype Operator with the Signal corps Wing of the Army Air Force and was awarded several medals. On May 16, 1948 Donald married Audrey Johnson at St. Petri Lutheran Church and they lived in Brandon, working with trucking and construction jobs. In 1949 they moved to Elbow Lake, MN working at a service station and also as a Standard Oil Bulk Agent, then with auto dealers as an auto mechanic. Don also worked for the school district as the bus mechanic and coordinator. In August 1968, they moved to Thief River Falls to be an automotive instructor at the AVTI retiring in June of 1983. Through his love of teaching, he taught patience, kindness, fairness and perseverance by his example and compassion. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. Since retiring and before, they did a lot of traveling. They went to Norway, Sweden and Denmark, on 4 cruises, Hawaii, drove to Alaska twice, Amtrak twice, Washington D.C., 9 fly-in-fishing trips in Canada out of Winnipeg, 3 houseboat trips in Canada, to Niagara Falls, many camping trips in Canada, drove to Nashville, Florida and the Keys, many trips to Washington and Arizona, and also several National Parks and to Nova Scotia. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, a 69 year member of the American Legion, a life-member of the VFW, and also a member of the Golden Pioneers. Don was chosen and honored to take the Honor Flight Trip to Washington D.C. in April of 2009 to view the new World War II Memorial. He was a survivor of Iwo Jima. Survivors include his loving wife of 66 years, Audrey of Thief River Falls, MN; children, Jean (Vern) Schneider of Peoria, AZ, Julie (Jerry) Morben of St. George, UT, and Jerome (Ann Black) Hermanson of Grand Forks, ND; grandchildren, John (Joy) and Kris Schneider of CA, Zachary (Jill) Schneider of Phoenix, AZ, Brandy (Chris Lawrence) Hermanson of Thief River Falls, Ryan (Emily) Hermanson of Grand Forks, ND; great-grandchild, Evan Hermanson of Grand Forks, ND; brother, Dayton (Yvonne) Hermanson of Brandon, MN; and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents; great-grandchild, Maci Lawrence on April 19, 2015; and brothers, Leslie and Wayne Hermanson.