Clifford H. Markuson

LITTLE FALLS -- Clifford Herman Markuson, 80, Little Falls, died Saturday, June 24, 2000, at the Veterans Medical Center in St. Cloud.

He was born Oct. 26, 1919, in Round Prairie Township to the late Leonard and Elsie (Herman) Markuson. He attended school in Long Prairie, graduating in 1936. He worked as a DHIA supervisor testing cattle, was involved in 4-H and FAA. He worked out of the University of Minnesota-St. Paul campus where he worked with the artificial insemination of cattle. He was in the first class at the U of M that learned to breed cows by means of artificial insemination. Following his schooling, he moved back to Long Prairie and operated the Standard Oil station. He married Cecilia "Ceil" Huebner on June 11, 1942, in Little Falls. He entered the Army in September 1942 and served in the infantry division. He later transferred to the Air Corps division where he took his cadet training. He was a 2nd Lt. Bombardier Navigator on B17's and was a member of the 8th Air Force based in England known as Hell's Angels. He was discharged in 1945. Following the service he returned to Long Prairie and purchased the Standard Oil station. He then built Rans-Mark Motors with Arnold Ranzenberger which was later destroyed by fire. After the fire, he went to work for the American Breeders Service. He also worked for Perfection Milking Machine Co. and then in 1958 went to work for the American Dairy Association as a field man. In 1963, he moved to Idaho and took the position of manager of the Idaho Dairyman Association. He then returned to Minnesota as the general manager of the American Dairy Association of Minnesota until his retirement in 1984. He retired to Platte Lake and in 1998 moved to Little Falls.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Gerald "Jerry" Markuson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and Steve Markuson, Brooklyn Center; two daughters, Judy Chamberlain and Cheryl Allander, San Bruno, Calif.; nine grandchildren; and a sister, Irene Eldred, Long Prairie.

A granddaughter and a sister, Evelyn Lawin, died earlier.

Services will be 1 p.m. Thursday at First United Church in Little Falls with the Rev. John Buttery officiating. Burial will be in Bearhead Cemetery in Pillsbury with military rites by the Hillman American Legion Post 602.

Friends may call from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls and an hour before services Thursday at the church.

Arrangements are with the Shelley Funeral Chapel of Little Falls.